Nicola Sturgeon has said in an interview with Robert Peston that she would be willing to accelerate plans for independence if a no-deal Brexit goes ahead and that she has no plans to step down as First Minister. 

Speaking on the ITV flagship political show, she reaffirmed her commitment to fighting Brexit adding that trying to discuss Brexit plans and room for manoeuvre and compromise with the Prime Minister was like "talking to a brick wall". 

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She told Robert Peston that she was reaffirmed to doing what is best for Scotland's interests and would fight to keep Scotland in the heart of Europe saying that she saw remaining in the EU as a distinct possibility which her party will continue to argue for. 

When asked how the SNP would stand if a confirmatory EU referendum, or second vote, backed Brexit, the First Minister said that the struggle for Scotland to remain in the EU as an independent country would not be over saying: "If you look at how Ireland has been supported by the European Union, and the number of small countries sitting around the European Council table deciding Scotland's fate, then the argument for Scotland to become an independent member of the EU has only grown.

"If you think back to the European Council just a few weeks ago, something like a dozen of the 27 member states are countries similar in size to Scotland or smaller, and they're around that table as independent countries, that's the future that Scotland should be looking to seize".

Nicola Sturgeon also spoke on the appropriate timing for a future Scottish independence referendum she said that a harder Brexit could potentially bring forward independence plans. She said: "I think it would see a lot of people want to bring that choice of Scotland to become independent as close as possible. We have got to put the plans in place and pass the legislation."

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Ms Sturgeon has already claimed that if a Brexiteer like Boris Johnson succeeded Mrs May in Downing St, the cause of independence would “sky-rocket” in Scotland.

"Just as 2014 was very different from the Brexit vote, I want the future choice of Scottish independence to be equally different to the Brexit vote. 

"I want it done to the highest international standards, I want people to be well-informed and I want that decision to be one that people come to with the maximum amount of information.  That's the way we should all aspire, those of us who support independence, to become an independent country."

The First Minister was also quizzed on whether she would step down before the next election or after the potential independence referendum, a question that she dubbed "wishful thinking on behalf of her opponents" stating that she had plans to lead the SNP and plans to ask for another term as First Minister after the next election.