DAVID Cameron believes “Scotland has moved on” from last year’s independence referendum, suggesting Scottish voters have put behind them the issue of breaking away from the UK and are focusing on what a stronger Scottish Parliament can do, according to a senior Whitehall source.

The Prime Minister has dismissed talk of another referendum, insisting he saw “no need” for one, but Stewart Hosie, the deputy SNP leader, warned that it would be “very, very foolish” for any prime minister to stand in the way of a second poll if there was a popular mandate for one.

However, a senior UK Government insider said Mr Cameron’s clear view was that “Scotland has moved on” from last September’s vote and that the priority now was for Holyrood to "get on and use its increased powers".

In response, Angus Robertson, the SNP leader at Westminster, dismissed any notion that Scotland had drawn a line under the independence issue and consigned it to history.

“The fact that the Tories managed to secure just one parliamentary seat in Scotland at the recent General Election and came within a whisker of being defeated in that one seat they held and are the least successful centre-right party in the industrialised, democratic world tells you everything you need to know about just out of touch Downing Street and the Conservative Party are.”

He said some opinion polls clearly showed support for independence was up on last year. “So Scotland has moved on from last year; it has seen high levels of support for independence and record levels of support for the SNP.”

Two opinion polls over the weekend suggested most Scots remained sceptical about independence although most believed it was inevitable by 2045 at the latest.

The First Minister has confirmed the SNP 2016 Holyrood manifesto will include more details on the circumstances under which another referendum might be "appropriate". Her remarks followed an indication last week by her predecessor Alex Salmond that Trident renewal could be one of the triggers to a second poll.

Ms Sturgeon said: "Our manifesto will set out what we consider are the circumstances and the timescale on which a second referendum might be appropriate but we can only propose.

"It's then for people in Scotland, whether it is in this election or in future elections, to decide whether they want to vote for our manifesto and then if there is in the future another independence referendum, whether that's in five years or 10 years or whenever, it will be down to the people of Scotland to decide whether they want to vote for independence or not,” she added.

Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Conservative leader, said the SNP leader wanted to burden Scotland with a “neverendum” when “most people in Scotland want to put last year's referendum behind them and get on with life”.

Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader,echoed the point, arguing Scottish voters who rejected independence last year did “not want to reheat the arguments of the past” but wanted to see the enhanced powers Holyrood had used for the benefit of everyone in Scotland.