Nicola Sturgeon has branded Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn "utterly pathetic", as she accused his party of handing the Prime Minister a "blank cheque" over Brexit.

The First Minister launched the attack after a majority of Labour MPs voted for legislation which allows Theresa May to trigger Article 50, despite a series of amendments being defeated.

The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill has now passed through the House of Commons, with Ms Sturgeon savaging the "so-called opposition" at Westminster.

After the final Commons vote on Wednesday, Mr Corbyn tweeted: "Real fight starts now. Over next two years Labour will use every opportunity to ensure Brexit protects jobs, living standards & the economy."

Speaking at First Minister's Questions, Ms Sturgeon said that was like "closing the stable door after the horse is dead and buried".

SNP MPs voted against the Bill, and Ms Sturgeon said: "In terms of the wider issue about the vote in the House of Commons last night, I think it is deeply regrettable that amendment after amendment was rejected by the Government, we're talking here about amendments that simply ask for protection for EU nationals, ask the Government to commit not to doing things like breaching the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.

"All of these amendments were rejected, not a single concession was won through any of these amendments, yet we still have a Labour so-called opposition that decides to vote for that Bill and hand the Conservative Government a blank cheque.

"I think that is utterly pathetic and shows the weakness of the opposition there is the UK Parliament in the form of the Labour Party.

"I saw Jeremy Corbyn tweeting last night that the real fight begins now, how utterly pathetic. It's not so much closing the stable door after the horse has bolted, it's closing the stable door after the horse is dead and buried.

"The UK badly needs vigorous opposition in the House of Commons, the SNP is providing it day in and day out, it's just a shame the Labour Party are failing to do so."

Ms Sturgeon said 62% of voters in Scotland had wanted to remain in the European Union, insisting she has "a duty as First Minister to stand up for the interests of this country and to do everything I can to make sure that the Tories do not get away with taking Scotland off a hard Brexit cliff-edge with the implications that will have for jobs, for investment, for our economy as a whole and for the very society that we live in".

Tory MSP for Dumfriesshire Oliver Mundell said that by voting against the legislation, the "SNP have confirmed beyond all doubt that they no longer accept the overall outcome of the democratic process".

He called on the First Minister to guarantee "that my constituents, who neither voted for her as First Minister nor for this Scottish Government, will not be forced to take part in a second independence referendum against their express will?"

Ms Sturgeon responded: "I think it's clear and becoming increasingly clear with every week that passes that the people that the Tories in this chamber represent are the Tory Government in Westminster, that's who they are here to represent and stand up for.

"On the question of a second independence referendum, I've been very clear about my determination to find compromise, it just so happens I am facing a UK Government that isn't willing to compromise with me.

"I've also said that I'm determined to ensure that Scotland will not be dragged out of the EU and dragged off that hard Brexit cliff-edge against its will and my mandate for that, it was in the manifesto that I was elected on just under one year ago."