RICHARD Leonard appeared to praise Nicola Sturgeon today when he suggested her performance as First Minister was leading more Scots to back independence.

In a question and answer session following a keynote speech this morning the Scottish Labour leader was asked why polls conducted in recent weeks during the pandemic were showing rising support for independence.

He said: "To be honest part of it is the conduct of Boris Johnson and the perception of Boris Johnson and I think juxtaposing Nicola Sturgeon with Boris Johnson people clearly hold Nicola Sturgeon in much higher regard.

He added: "I think there has been an incredible amount of media exposure to the SNP in a way that hasn't simply been available to other political parties which I think has also fermented that level of support."

READ MORE: Richard Leonard to make keynote speech in effort to raise profile

During questions from the press Leonard again underlined that Labour would oppose a second independence referendum in its 2021 Holyrood election manifesto.

He refused to give a view on whether his party would continue to oppose a new vote on independence if the SNP won a majority of seats - saying he was fighting to stop that situation.

During his virtual address Leonard backed the Scottish Government on a number of key issues.

These included backing demands by the First Minister for more borrowing powers for Holyrood. He also insisted that the UK Government must reallocate around £800 million per year from the current EU contribution to the Scottish Parliament’s budget, in addition to Barnett formula funding.

He said this additional money would help fund Labour's 'green new deal' to create 131,000 new green jobs in housing, energy, infrastructure, environmental restoration, and transport.

But he was also highly critical of aspects of the Scottish Government’s record and handling of the pandemic.

He attacked the transfer of hospital patients who had had a positive Covid test to care homes and how the virus was able to spread so widely in care homes.

"I wish it was the case that here in Scotland families with relatives in residential care had had a better experience," he said.

"I wish care homes residents in Scotland had been better protected during this crisis.

"But we know that while only 0.7% of the population live in our care homes, almost 50% of all Covid 19 deaths have been in care homes.

"In fact the situation is so bad that the Scottish Human Rights Commission had to call for the future Covid-19 public inquiry to investigate whether the fundamental human right to life of residents has been violated.

"For two months, I pushed for this. And the First Minister has now conceded it."

He added: "But we need to go further. So that those who knowingly decided to transfer patients with Covid-19 to care homes, and those who knowingly took the decision to transfer patients to care homes in the full and certain knowledge that there was Covid-19 present, must face justice if necessary in a court of law. We know that families are already considering bringing about prosecutions. And we will be on the side of those families in their pursuit of justice."

Leonard made a number of demands in his speech which included:

* Calling on the UK Government to allow for flexibility in extending the furlough scheme in certain sectors and areas.

* Calling on the Scottish Government Jobs Guarantee Scheme to be open to women and other groups whose employment had been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic

* Calling on the Scottish Government to ban evictions for the remainder of this parliament.

He also urged Holyrood to back Neil Findlay's bill banning MSPs from having a second job.

In pointed attack on Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross who works regularly as a football referee, Leonard said: "We need a parliament focused on the job in hand that’s why Neil Findlay’s double jobbing bill is so important. People want politicians who are on their side, not someone more interested in catching footballers offside."

Leonard ended his speech with a tribute to those who had lost their lives in the pandemic.

He said: "Let me end with this final thought. We are regularly told that we will emerge stronger from this pandemic. And I hope that we do. But I say that we must never ever forget those wonderful friends and those deeply missed relatives who we have lost over the last six months.

"It is to their memory, it is in their name, that we fight for this better future for Scotland. That is our duty. That is the call of these times to us. Let us answer that call. And let us rise to that challenge."

The Scottish Greens attacked his speech, saying Labour had stolen its ideas for a green new deal.

Co-leader Lorna Slater said: "Almost exactly a year since the Scottish Greens published our Scottish Green New Deal, Richard Leonard has produced a carbon copy and attempted to pass it off as his own idea. The truth is Scottish Labour have no new ideas.

"Recycling Scottish Green ideas and trying to pass them off as their own won’t impress the public. The people of Scotland know that the way to ensure that the climate crisis goes to the top of the political agenda in Scotland is to reject the Labour party and vote for the Scottish Greens.”