Nicola Sturgeon has claimed Boris Johnson should never have been elected after it was reported the Prime Minister is set to finally announce he will leave Downing Street.
The Conservative leader's authority has evaporated this week after dozens of his own MPs quit their government jobs in a bid to kick him out of office.
Johnson will make a statement later today in which he is expected to confirm he will stay on as Prime Minister until Tory MPs have chosen a new leader.
READ MORE: Boris Johnson to resign after months of scandal
But Sturgeon insisted problems at Westminster "run much deeper" than one individual and claimed independence offered "a real and permanent alternative".
The SNP leader said: "There will be a widespread sense of relief that the chaos of the last few days (indeed months) will come to an end, though notion of Boris Johnson staying on as PM until autumn seems far from ideal, and surely not sustainable?
"Boris Johnson was always manifestly unfit to be PM and the Tories should never have elected him leader or sustained him in office for as long as they have. But the problems run much deeper than one individual. The Westminster system is broken.
"The democratic deficit inherent in Westminster government doesn’t get fixed with a change of PM. None of the alternative Tory PMs would ever be elected in Scotland.
"And in policy terms, it is hard to see what real difference hard Brexit supporting Labour offers.
"Independence only happens if a majority living in Scotland choose it - but there is no doubt it offers the real and permanent alternative to Westminster, and the opportunity to fulfil our potential at home and play our part as a good global citizen. It’s time for that choice."
Ian Blackford, SNP leader at Westminster, said: "Boris Johnson's resignation is welcome but for Scotland it changes very little – we’re still controlled by a Westminster system that saw fit to make him Prime Minister.
"Whoever replaces him, Scotland will still be saddled with a Tory government we didn't vote for imposing Brexit, austerity cuts and damaging policies against Scotland's will."
Johnson last night wrote to Sturgeon to reject her demand for a second referendum on Scottish independence.
In a letter shared by Sturgeon, Johnson wrote: "I have carefully considered the arguments you set out for a transfer of power from the UK Parliament to the Scottish Parliament to hold another independence referendum.
"As our country faces unprecedented challenges at home and abroad, I cannot agree that now is the time to return to a question, which was clearly answered by the people of Scotland in 2014."
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