Nicola Sturgeon on copying Nigel Farage's Reform, the 'road to ruin' and cosying up to Donald Trump

The former first minister said the pair were “misguided” in not wanting to re-enter the EU’s single market and customs union, and stressed the move was a ploy to win over those who had defected to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

She also said too many politicians were making the wrong choice on Reform, and warned leaders off cosying up to US president Donald Trump.

Speaking to Glasgow-based Glad Radio, Ms Sturgeon said: “Reform in the UK is clearly gaining support and we can’t be complacent about that in Scotland. Politicians have a choice to make when faced with these threats.

“If you try to tackle Reform and Nigel Farage’s odious form of politics by imitating them, you are offering people a pale imitation of the real thing and then they will just go and vote for the real thing. That’s why what Starmer is doing by being a bit more like them is a recipe for failure and disaster.

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“We can get dragged down the path of the Nigel Farages and Donald Trumps of the world on the road to ruin, or stand up for what we believe in, and too many politicians are making the wrong choice on that.”

Ms Sturgeon said politicians were trying to “divert people’s attention” away from issues such as declining living standards and tackling climate change by using minorities as scapegoats. She said colluding with Mr Farage would not solve these issues.

The latest polling suggests Reform UK could win as many as a dozen seats in the 2026 Scottish Parliament election.

Earlier this month Sir Keir became the first UK Prime Minister to meet with the EU in Brussels since Brexit, in what he called a “reset” between the UK and EU.

However, his government has promised the UK will not re-join the EU’s single market or customs union, or sign up to freedom of movement.

On this issue, Ms Sturgeon said: “They’re wrong, and they don’t have to listen to me - go and listen to the former versions of themselves and they will realise they are wrong.

“I worked with Keir Starmer in trying to persuade [former prime minister] Theresa May to have a less damaging Brexit and we both tried to argue to stay in the single market and the customs union.

“I know this version of Keir Starmer right now is not the real Keir Starmer on these issues. If he listens to his former speeches, he will realise how misguided he is.”

The former SNP leader said it would be “really, really difficult” for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to achieve economic growth outside of the single market and customs union, and stressed this was “the elephant in the room and every one of these discussions”.

The Glasgow Southside MSP added: “They need to realise the biggest constraint is the current position of the UK vis-a-vis the EU.”

Ms Sturgeon was also asked about Mr Trump and urged world leaders to stand up to the Republican president.

She said: “Whatever anyone’s views are of the incumbent of the White House, he is president of the United States and is such a huge power in every sense.

“Leaders of other countries can’t simply turn away and not try to build a relationship. But there is a careful balance to strike between doing business in as normal a way as possible and not sucking up and going along with it and not calling out the things he is egregiously wrong on.

“World leaders are falling over themselves to be nice to him, but there is a real need to stand up for important values.

“If people don’t, there is a danger that in four years when his term of presidency is coming to an end, the world will have changed in all sorts of ways we don’t like and it will be difficult to pull back from that.

“It is human instinct to say ‘it will all work out, Donald Trump won’t be the monster we all think he is’. But we have got to be open eyed to the threat here.”