SNP's Angus Robertson accuses Tories of being too 'scared' to let Scotland have second independence referendum

His speech comes amid a war of words between Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May

SNP Westminster Leader Angus Robertson (Getty Images)

SNP leader in Westminster Angus Robertson has accused Theresa May's Tories of being too "scared" to let Scotland have another independence referendum.

The party's deputy leader will claim the Conservatives are "desperate" to prevent anyone standing in the way of a hard Brexit, as Nicola Sturgeon and Ms May continue their war of words over independence.

His attack comes as Ms May prepares to speak at her party's spring conference in Cardiff and after she wrote in The Times this morning claiming the SNP wants "to force" the UK government into agreeing to a referendum that would be unfair to the Scottish people.

Speaking at the SNP's spring event in Aberdeen, Mr Robertson was to say: "It is clear from the PM’s panicked response to the Scottish Government’s decision to rightly, give people in Scotland a choice over Scotland’s future, that the Tories are simply scared of the people’s choice.

"The Tories argument is not about process, it is about their desperate desire to prevent anyone having the chance to reject the hard right Brexit that they are so wedded to.

“The truth is it should not be for either Theresa May or the Scottish Government to decide Scotland’s future, that choice belongs to the parliament and the people of Scotland and it is one this party will never shy away from."

Earlier this week Ms Sturgeon set out her intention to push for another referendum and she is likely to ask the Scottish parliament to vote on it next week. But on Thursday Ms May said "now is not the time" for another referendum, with aides indicating no vote would be permitted before Brexit.

Explaining her position this morning Ms May, wrote that another vote "is not something to which any responsible government could reasonably agree."

She added: "The SNP is trying to force the UK Government to agree to something that is fundamentally unfair to the Scottish people. It wants to ask them to make a crucial decision without the necessary information.

"They would not know what the new partnership with the EU would look like, or what the alternative of an independent Scotland would be. It would simply not be fair."