The SNP leader told the party’s annual conference Scotland was being “forced against our will” to leave the bloc when the Brexit transition expires on December 31 and vowed to return as “an independent state”. But her comments provoked a swift backlash when they were reported by Express.co.uk.
One furious reader said: “She forgets that a third of SNP supporters voted to leave the EU. Why would they want to leave a Union only to join another one? The very opposite of INDEPENDENCE.”
Another said: “I can honestly say I have NEVER come across anyone who loves the EU.
“Not one single solitary person has ever expressed that opinion. Quite the opposite to be honest.
“At the time of the referendum on Brexit here 40 percent voted to leave.
“One million. This after an SNP party which pushed the vote really hard.
“I can pretty well guarantee their influence is considerably less these days, despite what they think themselves.”
Another critic said: “Go for it Nicola. If you fail you can always move to the EU I’m sure your ‘political skills’ will be welcome in Brussels bureaucracy where your kind dwell on the backs of others.”
And another reader branded the First Minister a “malevolent anti-UK fool” intent on “pursuing insane SNP policies”.
One critic pointed out some areas of Scotland were already pushing for their own independence from Holyrood.
He said: “Orkney and Shetland don’t agree – they want their independence from Scotland taking most of the natural resources with them.”
READ MORE: Brexit LIVE: German MEP breaks cover to admit EU no deal panic
Another said: “Shetland and Orkney have already stated their preference to leave Scotland and possibly become Crown Dependencies so there goes the oil – what’s left of it – and most of the fish and what’s left the EU will take.
“The last thing they need is another member with the begging bowl permanently out!
The backlash came after Ms Sturgeon used her speech to the SNP conference to send a message of unity to countries in the European Union ahead of the UK’s departure at the end of next month.
She said: “Here in the UK the threat of Brexit looms. In just a month’s time Scotland will be forced against our will to a much more distant relationship with our friends across the European Union.
“Before we go any further, I want to send this message to our European friends and neighbours.
“You are – and always will be – part of who we are. You are not distant to us.”
Earlier, Ms Sturgeon’s Constitution Secretary Mike Russell said Scotland should aim for full EU membership if it becomes independent.
He told a fringe event: “I’ve been on record as wishing to see Scotland rejoin the EU and to that extent a halfway house is not what I’m looking for.”
He said the SNP’s policy of returning to the bloc as a full member state was a sign of Scotland’s “goodwill and intent”.
