The "zero standing" and deep unpopularity of Nigel Farage will lead to a surge in support for independence, Nicola Sturgeon's official spokesperson said last night hitting back at the Ukip leader over claims the SNP Government did not want a second referendum in Scotland.

In a blistering attack on Farage, Sturgeon's spokesperson accused the Ukip frontman of seeking to "lay down the law" to Scots over independence after he said that a second referendum "was not a goer" in the aftermath of the Brexit vote in England and Wales.

The First Minister's spokesperson went on to say that Farage lived in a "fantasy world" after the Ukip leader claimed there was less backing for independence now then there was on September 18 2014.

Sturgeon's spokesperson then warned Farage not to lecture the Scottish electorate after he also claimed there was no appetite for a second independence referendum, despite the prospect of Scotland being dragged out of the EU against its will.

Farage was also slapped down after he suggested the Scottish Government did not have a legal right to hold a fresh vote on leaving the UK and would be forced to seek Westminster's permission to stage such a process.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Herald, Farage said the SNP would lose if it sought to hold another referendum on independence and would be defeated by a higher margin than the last vote, when 45 per cent of the electorate supported the Yes side.

"There's no point, as they'd (the SNP) lose it", Farage said when asked about the prospect of another vote on independence, which Sturgeon has stated is now 'highly likely'.

"The energy and enthusiasm that there was in 2014 for separatism isn't as strong now," he claimed, adding: "At the moment they do need UK parliamentary approval to do it.

When asked if such permission would be denied, Farage said: "It's not a goer and frankly I don't think she [Sturgeon] would want it."

However, Sturgeon's spokesperson said the Scottish electorate had decisively rejected the Brexit campaign, that included a Ukip poster unveiled by Farage showing a long trail of migrants lining up to travel to the UK.

The spokesperson added: “People across Scotland have voted overwhelmingly to reject Nigel Farage’s narrow agenda and instead to endorse Scotland’s future as a European nation.

“So he is living in a fantasy world if he thinks the result of the EU referendum is likely to do anything other than increase support for an independent Scotland within Europe.

“Mr Farage has zero standing and zero credibility north of the border, and if he tries to lay down the law to people here over independence or anything else he will quickly discover just how deeply unpopular he is in Scotland.”

Former Scottish Secretary Lord Forsyth, who served in John Major and Margaret Thatcher's governments, also claimed that holding an independence referendum would harm the popularity of the SNP.

The Tory peer suggested that in the aftermath of a Brexit an independent Scotland would be a similar position when it came to applying to join the EU as nations such as Turkey and Albania.

Forsyth, who was last elected as an MP in 1992, said: "Scotland is part of the UK. That was settled on a bigger turnout in September 2014.

"I can't believe we are going over these arguments again. If the UK leaves the EU then Scotland leaves the EU.

"If an independent Scotland is out of the EU then it would have to apply to be a member of the EU and take its turn along with Albania and Turkey.

"If you look at the polls they show that people are sick of referendums and don't want another Scottish referendum...I don't think they are going to risk having a referendum. It's fantasy politics. It would destroy them."

Meanwhile, David Coburn, Ukip's MEP for Scotland, said he would seek to gather support for a legal challenge to any second independence referendum, if the SNP government sought to hold such a vote in defiance of Westminster.

Coburn said: "They'd be on pretty dodgy ground as they have no mandate for this."

When asked whether he would mount a legal challenge, the Ukip MEP added: "I probably would get backers to do it."

Meanwhile, former SNP leader Gordon Wilson and leading pro-independence economist Jim Cuthbert called for the ripping-up of the case for a Yes vote as set out in the White Paper, which included the controversial plan for an independent Scotland to retain the Pound in a formal currency union.

Wilson, who is to unveil a paper setting out a 'long term case for independence' at a press conference on Tuesday, said: "We have to forget the old White Paper and create a new case."

He added: "We've got to lay out the building blocks as there will be no third chance. A second referendum has got to be won or not held at all."

Cuthbert, formerly the Scottish Office Chief Statistician, said: "The ideal position would be for an independent Scotland to have its own currency.

"There are countries that do have separate currencies that work perfectly well like Denmark.

"If we do get another independence referendum, they would have to think very hard about what life would be like for an indepedent Scotland being in the Euro, but having its main trading partner the rest of the UK using Sterling.

"They would need to do the homework much better and need to answer questions as it was the currency union that did for them."