SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon has said she feels partly British after declaring that identity is “complex”.
The First Minister, whose family has roots in Sunderland, also said an independent Scotland would remain part of the British Isles.
Sturgeon made the comments in an interview with sports journalist Graham Spiers in an interview at the Edinburgh Festival.
The de facto leader of the Scottish independence movement said: "So, this might surprise people, but do you know I consider myself British as well as Scottish. British is an identity that comes from being part of the British Isles.
"We’ll still be part of the British Isles. An independent Scotland would still be part of the British–Irish Council that I go to right now as First Minister.
"Identity is a complex thing. Many people live in Scotland, are as Scottish as I am, but will have a very proud Pakistani or Indian or African identity.”
She added: "Independence – it’s about self-governance. It’s about whoever lives in Scotland, wherever they come from, whatever their identity it is, however multifaceted and complex that identity is, it’s about those of us living here taking responsibility for the decisions that determine what kind of country we are.”
She also addressed her political future which has been the subject of speculation.
Sturgeon is Scotland’s longest serving First Minister and rumours have circulated that she will stand down in the next few years.
Although she said it is her “assumption” that she will still be in charge of her party for the next Holyrood poll, she said she was not scared of a life outside the Parliament.
She said: “I don’t want to be and I don’t think I will be the kind of politician that clings to office just because you’re terrified of the life beyond it.
“Whenever I stop being First Minister, and I don’t plan not to be anytime soon, I’m going to be relatively young. I look forward to doing other things in the future – it doesn’t phase me.
“In some ways, it’s a good thing and it’s quite healthy to not find yourself so desperate to cling onto office because you can’t think of any alternative.”
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