RISHI Sunak has dismissed Nicola Sturgeon’s plan to use the next general election as a “de facto” referendum on independence just hours after meeting her.

The Prime Minister poured cold water on the scheme while speaking to the media on his first visit to Scotland since entering Downing Street.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack also rubbished Ms Sturgeon’s claim to have a mandate to hold Indyref2, saying it was never in her gift to promise it in the first place.

The blunt response came the morning after Mr Sunak and the First Minister had an hour-long dinner at the Kingsmills Hotel in Inverness on Thursday.

Mr Sunak said the meeting had been “constructive” and that Ms Sturgeon had talked about independence.

However, after speaking to Ms Sturgeon, the BBC reported there had been a “robust” exchange on the constitution.

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Last summer, Ms Sturgeon had the issue of whether Holyrood could hold Indyref2 without Westminster’s consent referred to the UK Supreme Court for a definitive ruling.

In November, the court’s unanimous judgment was that Holyrood did not have that power, as such a referendum would stray into the Westminster-only area of the Union.

The First Minister said that left her little choice but to use the “imperfect” option of fighting the next election as a de facto referendum on the single issue of independence. 

However there is scepticism about how this would work in practice within the SNP, which is due to hold a special conference to flesh out the plan in March.

Pete Wishart, the SNP’s longest serving MP, this week said the scheme was “just about the worst possible way to settle the constitutional future of Scotland”, but the “only way” given the UK Government’s repeated refusal to allow a referendum on the same lines as 2014.

After visiting Invergordon to confirm one of Scotland’s new green freeports would be on the Cromarty Firth, Mr Sunak was asked about Ms Sturgeon’s de facto idea.

He said: “I think people vote for all sorts of things in general elections. What I’m focused on doing is delivering on people’s priorities. 

“It’s very clear that, right now, across the United Kingdom, devolved and UK governments are also grappling with some of the challenges in the NHS. 

“We’re grappling with the impact of the war in Ukraine, Russia’s aggression, the impact that’s had on energy supplies and indeed on inflation more generally and the cost of living, which is really making life difficult for many families. 

“Those are the challenges that we really need to tackle.” 

The SNP manifesto for the 2021 Holyrood election promised to “give people in Scotland the right to choose our own future in an independence referendum”, and proposed that it be held in the first half of the parliament, provided the Covid crisis had passed.

Ms Sturgeon has said the SNP winning the election, plus the SNP and pro-independence Greens winning 71 of the 129 seats at Holyrood, would gives her a clear mandate for Indyref2.

However, speaking after Mr Sunak, the Scottish Secretary said that was not the case, as the Supreme Court ruling showed Ms Sturgeon does not have never had the power to back up her pledge.

Mr Jack said: “We went through the process with the Supreme Court. That was brought forward by them.It’s very clear where we are now. You can’t have a mandate for something that you have no power over. The power rests with Westminster; it’s a reserved matter.”

Despite their disagreements on the constitution, Mr Sunak said he wanted to have a positive relationship with the First Minister, and that he had shown that by calling her on his first day in office and meeting her in person in November at the British Irish Council in Blackpool.

His predecessor Liz Truss famously said she would ignore Ms Sturgeon as she was an “attention seeker”, and didn’t even call her during her 49-day stint in Number 10.

Ms Sturgeon also had a frosty relationship with Boris Johnson, who she considered unfit for office.