THE head of a pro-Union think tank has compared Nicola Sturgeon to a scorpion over her desire for independence.

Kevin Hague, who chairs These Islands, said the First Minister will push for independence "even if it causes untold economic misery".

Hague's comments came in a series of tweets related to people who have gone from No to Yes after a new poll found only those over the age of 65 are against independence.

Hague said: "It’s remarkable the extent to which people are willing to give the SNP (effectively Nicola Sturgeon) the benefit of the doubt - when irrefutable economic facts are put in front of them (the Scottish Government’s own data), these are the sort of reactions we hear.

Hague attached a description of The Scorpion and the Frog, a fable in which a scorpion stings a frog without meaning to.

READ MORE: Neil Oliver teams up with Kevin Hague's pro-Union These Islands think tank

Sturgeon was also called a "scorpion" by Boris Johnson in 2015, when he also likened her to King Herod – who, according to the Bible, had all the baby boys in Bethlehem slaughtered following the birth of Jesus.

Andrew Wilson, who wrote the SNP's Growth Report, hailed the new poll, saying: "These numbers are remarkable. Democracy matters. Legitimacy matters. This is becoming the settled will of people who live in Scotland. That will have to be made good."

Politics expert Ian Docherty questioned Hague's use of language. He said: "One wonders quite how uncomfortable some of the sensible people on Kev’s advisory board are with this kind of language."