Brexit is making the case for Scottish independence without any help from the SNP, Nicola Sturgeon has claimed, after the Tories accused her of exploiting it for party advantage.

The First Minister hit back after Jackson Carlaw said she wanted to sink Theresa May’s Brexit deal to cause “chaos and upheaval” in order to boost the Yes movement.

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At FMQs, the interim Tory leader told MSPs that Mrs May’s deal was the only one on the table, as numerous European leaders and officials had confirmed.

He said: “I say, ‘Back a deal that delivers an orderly exit, protects jobs and delivers more control of our waters than we have had for half a century.’

“The First Minister says, ‘Vote down the deal,’ which means more chaos and more upheaval and all in the hope that it will deliver on her obsession with a second independence referendum. That is not in Scotland’s interests, and it is not standing up for Scotland.”

Mr Sturgeon said it was rich for Mr Carlaw to ask the SNP to back a deal that many Tory MPs would not support.

She said: “This deal will take Scotland out of the European Union against our will, take us out of the single market against our economic interests, put us at a potential competitive disadvantage with Northern Ireland and, into the bargain, sell out Scottish fishermen.

“Jackson Carlaw talks about the SNP using Brexit to advance the case for independence,.

“But I say to him that Brexit does that all by itself. It needs no help from the SNP.

“That threadbare line is just a device for the Tories, because the opposite is true: they are exploiting independence to avoid hard questions on Brexit. It will not wash.

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"People see right through it, and increasingly, they are seeing right through Jackson Carlaw and all his Tory cronies.”

The heated exchange followed Mr Jackson attacking Ms Sturgeon on fishing, saying the SNP would keep Scotland in the “hated CFP” by rejoining the EU if they could.

Ms Sturgeon said that made her the same as Mr Carlaw and Ruth Davidson, as both backed Remain, and Ms Davidson said last month she would do so again if there was another vote.

She said: “On that issue, it would appear that there is no difference between me and the Scottish Conservatives. Where there is a difference is that, on 11 December, SNP MPs will vote against the Tory deal that sells out Scottish fishermen.”

Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard raised the case of a family in Falkirk worried about education funding to accuse Ms Sturgeon of “quadrupling” Tory austerity.

He cited a new Accounts Commission overview of local government finance which found a £220m real terms cut in Scottish Government funding to councils in 2017/18.

It said council funding had fallen 6.92% while UK Government funding to the Scottish Government had fallen 1.65%.

“That is taking Tory austerity and quadrupling it. What is fair about that?” Mr Leonard asked.

Last week headteachers in SNP-run Falkirk issued letters to parents warning about unprecedented funding cuts.

He quoted one parent who got a letter, Catherine Sneddon of Bo’ness, whose 10-year-old son Louis has a learning disability and epilepsy.

“‘Year in year out we brace ourselves for cuts to his support network ... take that away from him and other children who need the ASN [additional support needs] packages ... and our children decline in physical and mental health alongside their medical issues.’

“Is the First Minister seriously saying to the Sneddon family that that is fair?”

Ms Sturgeon said the leader of Falkirk Council had apologised for the “misleading impression” given by the letters, and said education spending had gone up in 2018/19.

She reminded Mr Leonard that 20 years ago, Falkirk had taken up a Labour PFI deal for new schools with a capital value of £65m that had ended up costing £314m.

She said: “I think Labour should be apologising for that.”