NICOLA Sturgeon has warned the risk of a no-deal Brexit has escalated in recent weeks as she launched a fresh attack on the two remaining Tory leadership candidates.

The First Minister insisted Boris Johnson would be a "disaster" for the UK, and said there is nothing Scotland can do to "take away the damage" of a no-deal exit.

She made the comments as she announced a £1 million food education programme for young people at the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh.

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Speaking to journalists afterwards, Ms Sturgeon said: "I am extremely worried about the risk of a no-deal on October 31. 

"I think that risk has been increasing ever since the European elections, Theresa May's resignation and a leadership contest in the Conservative Party that is between two fairly hardline Brexiteers – with one, the front runner, almost seeming to relish the prospect of leaving the EU with no deal. 

"And I think that should worry everybody who understands the damage that would do to Scotland, to our economy overall and in particular to sectors like agriculture. 

"That said, and I think it's important not to lose this point, I also think that the possibility of averting Brexit has also increased since the European election. 

"We need Jeremy Corbyn to get off the fence on the question of a second referendum.

"But if we can achieve that and then build the consensus and the majority in the House of Commons for a second referendum, then we've got that opportunity as well. 

"So we're in this perhaps rather strange situation where I think the risk of no-deal is rising, but the risk of stopping Brexit has also increased, and there's a real sense that that is up for grabs."

Ms Sturgeon made the remarks after Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson emerged as the final two contenders to become the next Tory leader and Prime Minister. 

She said: "I think Boris Johnson becoming Prime Minister will be a disaster for the UK, and I think it will be bad for Scotland, and I don't think people in Scotland want that. 

"It further demonstrates that Scotland and the rest of the UK perhaps are on different political trajectories, and I believe that for Scotland we have to have the ability to chose our own future – not have that future imposed upon us by Boris Johnson or anyone else."

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government will "look to do whatever we can to help different sectors and different industries" in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

But she warned the impact of no-deal would be "catastrophic", and insisted: "We've really got to double, triple, quadruple our efforts to stop it."

She said: "I suppose the key point I want to make today is whatever mitigation the Scottish Government can put in place, it will not take away the damage of a no-deal Brexit. 

"There is nothing the Scottish Government could do to completely mitigate that damage.

"And that is why we must do everything we can to stop it happening."

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The First Minister said the relationship between the Scottish and UK governments had been put under "significant strain as a result of Brexit".

She said: "At the high level of that, Scotland voted to remain and we face a UK Government that doesn't appear interested in Scotland's views or interests.

"And we've also, through the Brexit process, started to see a real centralising tendency within the Westminster establishment, and that has brought real tensions with not just the Scottish Government, but the Welsh Government as well.

"And the leadership contenders – both people who seem to be determined to accentuate their Brexit credentials at a time when, in the European elections we saw people in Scotland if anything become even more strongly of the view that we shouldn't leave the European Union. 

"And I think that does raise real concerns."