Nicola Sturgeon has warned Rishi Sunak she intends to honour her mandate to hold a second Scottish independence referendum "with or without the UK Government's agreement".
The SNP leader held her first official meeting with the new Prime Minister in Blackpool last night ahead of the opening of the annual British-Irish Council.
Speaking after the meeting, Sturgeon said that despite "deep political disagreements" she hoped to work closely with Rishi Sunak and to enjoy a "good relationship".
"It was a cordial and constructive meeting. I think both of us want to try as hard as we can to build a good constructive working relationship," she told LBC Radio.
"We've got deep political disagreements. I think we can all take that as read. But we've also got an obligation to work together in the interests of the people we serve. So I'm certainly keen to build that kind of relationship. He says he is too, so hopefully we'll see that translate from rhetoric into reality."
Asked about the possibility of a second referendum, the first minister said: "I of course raised that and made clear that I have an electoral mandate to offer the people in Scotland a choice in our future.
"He has said a lot I agree with, as it happens, about the importance of electoral mandates in his own context, but I also said I intend to honour that mandate, with or without the UK government's agreement, albeit entirely constitutionally and legally.
"But the right thing to do would be for the two governments to sit down and agree a process that lets the Scottish people decide and so I made it clear to him if he's willing to do that, then I will have that discussion with him."
Sturgeon also called on Sunak to send more money to Holyrood amid the "extreme pressure being faced by public services like the NHS".
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
