NICOLA STURGEON will reveal her plans for a second Scottish independence referendum in a “matter of weeks” regardless of Brexit, she told MSPs today.

The First Minister met Theresa May yesterday following the historic Commons defeat of the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement and afterwards she said she would soon announce the timing of a second independence vote.

Speaking at First Minister’s Questions today, Ms Sturgeon reiterated her pledge and said: “I think it is essential, given the catastrophe that Scotland faces — to our economy, to our society, to living standards, to prospects for the next generation, to our reputation in the world — that the option of independence must be open to people in Scotland.

“When people in Scotland have the ability to choose independence, I believe that the country will opt to be an independent country.”

Ms Sturgeon added she believes support for independence is growing “with every day that passes.”

But former Labour MP Pamela Nash, who now runs the Scotland in Union organisation, described the First Minister’s comments as “reckless and ill-advised.”

She said: “It is not the case that support for independence grows with every day that passes — every single opinion poll in 2018 found majority support for remaining in the UK.

“Brexit has demonstrated how hard it is to leave a political union, and the SNP and Greens should recognise that.

"Whatever your views on Brexit, independence is not the answer and could be eight times as damaging to our economy as the worst-case Brexit. We are better off as part of the UK.”