JACOB Rees-Mogg has claimed SNP MPs are "grumpy" that Scotland did not become independent in 2014.
Calling for them to respect the result, the Commons Leader added that the ongoing “row” between the party’s current leader Nicola Sturgeon and former leader Alex Salmond is “a most disagreeable spectacle”.
It came as Edinburgh East SNP MP Tommy Sheppard warned that pressure for Scottish independence is mounting with another opinion poll reporting that a majority of people are in favour of splitting the union.
He told MPs: “In the week when the 19th Scottish opinion poll reports majority support for independence, I ask again for a debate on this Parliament’s response.
“Yesterday, George Osborne, a man whose interventions single-handedly boosted Yes support in the last referendum, demanded that the Government ignore democratic decisions.
“He seems to believe that, as this Union can’t be maintained by consent, it must be maintained by coercion.
“If this is becoming the Government’s view, surely this Parliament should discuss it?”
It comes as a new poll finds more than half of Scots back using the Holyrood election as indyref2.
The survey, carried out by Survation on behalf of Scot Goes Pop, found more than half of voters would support the Scottish Parliament vote as an “opportunity to vote for or against independence”.
READ MORE: New Survation poll is NINETEENTH to show Scots want independence
Rees-Mogg replied: “All, ultimately, [Sheppard] wants to do every week is moan about the devolution settlement.
“The referendum was won by the Unionists in 2014, it was accepted that it would be for a generation – a generation is not a mere six-and-a-half years.
“The Scottish people made their choice and he is still grumpy that they didn’t make the choice that he wanted.
“This Parliament respects the free choice that the Scottish people made more than he does.”
Rees-Mogg added that the SNP “is in such an awful muddle with its rows and disagreements, with Mr Salmond and Ms Sturgeon getting together like cats in a sack”.
He continued: “It is a most disagreeable spectacle and that is why the union is something that we should all support and not leave it to the dangerous activities of the SNP.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has repeatedly reiterated her government’s commitment to a “legal, constitutional rule to becoming an independent state”.
That would involve securing a Section 30 order from Downing Street.
READ MORE: George Osborne puts forward a 'simple' proposal to stop Scottish independence
Over the weekend, the Sunday National revealed that the SNP plans ramping up the drive for independence with the creation of a dedicated taskforce to lay the groundwork for a new Yes campaign.
The party’s campaign director Keith Brown said the group would bring together strategic direction and expertise which is the “final piece in the jigsaw” to help deliver independence.
A “high-profile” campaigner to head the taskforce is expected to be announced in the next few days, which Brown said will “fire up” the wider Yes movement.
The objective of the group will be to lay the foundations of the indyref2 campaign before the Scottish Parliament elections due to take place in May, the SNP said.
This will include publishing a series of policy papers to build the case for an independent Scotland and creating materials for Yes campaigners.
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