Nicola Sturgeon admitted she wants a Labour government and sparked outrage by declaring she “detests” all Conservatives.
Following her TV outburst, Scotland’s First Minister was accused of using dangerous and divisive language that could lead to “nationalist violence.”
The SNP leader told the BBC: “If the question to me is would I prefer a Labour government over a Tory government – I detest the Tories and everything they stand for – so it’s not difficult to answer that question.”
She told the BBC that she “worked very well with Keir Starmer” in their joint efforts to stop Brexit, implying she could help Labour.
But she added she was really disappointed he had “thrown in the towel on the EU and no longer wants to take the UK or Scotland back into” it.
Cabinet Minister Nadhim Zahawi called the remarks “dangerous,” while MSP Russell Findlay expressed concern that they would incite nationalist violence.
And the SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, appeared to distance himself from his boss’ rant.
When asked if he too “detested” the Tories, he said: “No, I see them as a political opponent. You don’t detest opponents, you work to remove them.”
The row erupted after Liz Truss warned her warring parties that they must band together or face a “monstrous coalition” of the SNP and Labour.
Starmer, backed up by Sturgeon, also warned mutinous MPs of the “cold hard reality” of a Tory civil war.