NICOLA Sturgeon will have a “whole host of back-seat drivers” telling her how to achieve Scottish independence if the SNP win a majority, according to Willie Rennie.

The LibDem leader drew comparison between this situation and Theresa May’s difficulties in negotiating a Brexit deal amid conflicting demands from factions in her Conservative Party 

Rennie defined the last ten years of Scottish politics as fraught with arguments about the constitution.

He insisted that five years of nationalist infighting is looming, unless the SNP is deprived of a majority.

Rennie leader said: “If the SNP, the nationalists, get a majority, I think Nicola will have a whole host of back-seat drivers.

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“She’s lost control of the nationalist movement already and I think there will be people shouting out all the time from the back seat, telling her exactly which direction to go in - and she’ll be beholden to them because she’ll have a commitment to try and pursue this whole independence agenda.

The National: Rennie drew comparison with Conservative infighting over Brexit. Credit: PARennie drew comparison with Conservative infighting over Brexit. Credit: PA

“But they don’t agree with each other – Alex Salmond wants it on day one, he’s talking about taking to the streets.

“I don’t quite know what the Greens’ strategy is, but we know they changed their strategy a few weeks after the last election, so who knows what they’ll do this time.

"And there’s not one single view within the SNP about how this should be done.

“Nicola keeps pushing it back and who knows where it will end up."

Rennie believes that the SNP’s plan for another independence referendum by 2023 will be derailed if they don’t secure an overall majority on May 6.

He argued that the parliament could then focus on recovery from the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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Rennie added: “If we turn back from that and make sure that they don’t get that majority, then there’s a real chance we can get the parliament focused on recovery.

“That’s the choice we’ve got.

“We’ve got Nicola driving the vehicle as a majority, with all these back-seat drivers telling her where to go.

“Or we can have a parliament that is resolutely focused, working in partnership to get recovery put first and to create jobs and tackle climate emergency and make sure the NHS is back up to speed, and cutting waits for mental health treatment and make sure we’ve got bounce-back support for education.

“If we can do all of those things that would be, I think, providing a service in the country that I think the last 10 years hasn’t because we’ve been bedevilled by the constitutional arguments.”