Nicola Sturgeon says she tries to find common ground with Boris Johnson

The First Minister made the comment, which she later suggested may not have been totally frank, as she was asked what she really thought of the Prime Minister as she took part in an online event organised by The Irish Times.

“Boris and I are very different in all sorts of ways,” she replied.

“His politics are a world away from mine. I think our personal styles are a world apart, but ... I spoke earlier on about the pandemic and the grim day-to-day experience of dealing with the pandemic changing perspectives.

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“And I’ve tried and only succeeded, so I’m not holier-than-thou around all of this, but I’ve tried to look at the things we have in common, not just with Boris but with other leaders, and look at the areas where we can work together and not focus on the things that divide us.”

She then conceded her response to the question may have been a “weasely-worded answer” adding: “I’ll leave people to work out what I really wanted to say.”

The two leaders have been on frosty terms over Brexit – opposed by Sturgeon and most Scots – and on the issue of a second independence referendum with Johnson repeatedly refusing to agree to a new vote.

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Earlier this month, Johnson suggested Scots should wait until 2055 before having a new referendum.

With 20 successive polls recording majority support for independence, Sturgeon responded last week comparing him to a “cow’rin tim’rous beastie” from Robert Burns’ famous poem, To a Mouse.

Journalist Fintan O’Toole went on to point out that Johnson was the SNP’s “biggest ally” because he had helped boost support for independence.

Speaking at the Winter Nights Festival on Thursday evening, the First Minister referred to the Prime Minister’s trip to Scotland that day, telling the audience that he had visited the country when she was telling people to stay at home.

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She added: “He thought it was appropriate to come to Scotland to save the Union and in normal times I would be all for that. A deeply unpopular Prime Minister coming to lecture Scotland that we’re a wee bit rubbish and can’t be allowed to decided our own future, that would have been fine.

"But we’re in the middle of a global pandemic so perhaps it wasn’t the most responsible thing to be doing.”

Boris Johnson on his short visit to Scotland

The hour-long conversation with O’Toole covered a wide range of issues, including how she felt about the souring of relations with her predecessor Alex Salmond, the Scottish Government’s new “Plan B” strategy to achieve independence, and her hope for Scotland to become an independent nation in the EU.

On Salmond, she said the situation was “incredibly difficult” before paying tribute to the former First Minister’s work driving up support for independence and strengthening the SNP.

She said: “It’s incredibly difficult for personal, political reasons and I’m not going to go into all that as it’s subject to inquiry.

“Nobody can take away the contribution – massive contribution – that Alex Salmond made to the growth and the current strength of the SNP and the independence movement.

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“Whatever has happened over the past couple of years and whatever happens in the future, the changed relationship between him and I, nobody can take away the massive influence he was on my life.

“But often in life things that you don’t anticipate and don’t relish and wouldn’t have ever wanted to happen happen and you have to deal with those and you have to live with them.

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“The one thing I think I can safely say though, notwithstanding the contribution I hope I’ve made and will continue to make, is that both the SNP and the Scottish independence movement is much, much bigger than any individual or any two individuals – no matter how important one or both of them might have been.”

She described dealing with the coronavirus pandemic as the “most stressful” period of her life.

Discussing Scotland’s future, she said she believed the country would become independent and prosper within the EU while keeping close trading links to the UK.

And she said Scotland could learn lessons from how Ireland’s economy had grown under independence as as an EU member.

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“That bigger European single market is really, really important and we should strive to be part of that in the future again,” she said.

“I’ve looked at ... the experience of Ireland after joining the EU. After Irish independence, trade was very, very dependent on the UK. After EU membership the balance of that changed markedly.”

She added: “Scotland is in an ideal position should we choose to be independent in the EU.

"It could be a bridge between the UK and the European Union, a magnet for investment, and that, I think, is much better than being a part of the UK on the periphery of the world’s biggest single market with all of these barriers to trade.”

During the event Sturgeon hinted at her support for a united Ireland which she suggested may happen before "too long".

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O'Toole also asked her if she felt she had a responsibility towards Unionists in Northern Ireland to reassure them about their future if Scotland became independent.

She said did she feel responsible in terms of peace continuing in Northern Ireland and said she would play her part to help ensure that was the case.

She added: "What I argued for during the Brexit process was always even it it didn't further the interests of Scotland to recognise the vital importance, the primary importance of protecting the Good Friday Agreement and peace in Northern Ireland. I think all of us feel a responsibility for that.

"Scotland becoming independent is not turning our back on people in Northern Ireland, unionist or nationalist. It's not turning our back on people in England and Wales. It's about changing the basis of the relationship."

She pointed out that as First Minister of Scotland she attended British Irish Council meetings along with the UK and Irish Government, and representatives of the devolved administrations and Crown dependencies.

"If Scotland becomes independent we still sit around that table," she said.

"It's just the capacity in which we sit there changes. We go from being a devolved administration to another independent country...but we don't leave the British Isles."