Former prime minister Gordon Brown compared the Scottish independence movement to the pro-Brexit movement as part of a Labour campaign meeting.
The Labour Party grandee, speaking at a public meeting in Edinburgh for the re-election of Labour candidate Ian Murray alongside shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, said neither pro-Scottish independence or pro-Brexit sentiments "will solve the economic problems we face".
Brown was one of the central figures in the Better Together campaign in 2014, which fought to keep Scotland as part of the UK.
The former prime minister said the economic outlook for a post-independence Scotland is "bleak".
He told the meeting, held at Morningside Parish Church in Edinburgh: "Neither Brexit nor Scotland leaving Britain does anything to solve the basic economic problems we face.
"But it's about more than that, it's about whether you support divisive nationalism across this country.
"I'm worried about Brexit nationalism and I'm worried about Scottish nationalism, because they need an enemy even when it doesn't exist.
"It's an us versus them, there's always a struggle that needs to be taking place."
Brown told the audience that the economic policies put forward by the Scottish Government for an independent Scotland would make the country worse off.
He also added that he "knew" there would be a hard border between Scotland and England.
He said: "I know we would have a hard border between Scotland and England, if the SNP wants to get into Europe then there has to be a border somewhere and that would be at Hadrian's Wall.
"At some point, instead of talking about independence and talking about a referendum as a theory, the SNP has to tell some vital truths about what it actually means for people's lives and their jobs."
Brown said he agreed with the First Minister's assessment of Brexit, but said she had to apply the same tests to Scottish independence.
He said: "We agree that there will be very severe consequences for this country."
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