Humza Yousaf is prepared to see a hard border between England and Scotland (Image: Getty)
Humza Yousaf has said he is prepared to see a hard border with England to achieve his independence dream, repeating his claim Brexit has cost Scotland ￡1.6billion.
The First Minister of Scotland's comments, made during an appearance at the London School of Economics (LSE), were dismissed by the Scottish Conservatives, whose chairman urged Mr Yousaf to focus on the real issues Scotland faces.
Mr Yousaf's remarks stand in stark contrast with previous SNP claims trade would be frictionless between Scotland and England if Scots were to vote for independence.
Nats were forced to backtrack on the border claim after the Scottish Government published a prospectus on separation late last year. It said red tape would be needed to deal with cross-border trade.
Mr Yousaf admitted an independent Scotland would face a "deficit" requiring "tough" decisions during a Q&A with audience members after his LSE speech.
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Humza Yousaf admitted Scotland would face a deficit in the event of independence (Image: Getty)
He was speaking about the economic damage wrought in Scotland by Brexit but went on to promote a policy dubbed "Brexit on steroids".
Scotland's First Minister said: "We will be evidence-based and fact-based and equally be upfront about what the challenges are.
"So for example, Scotland will face a deficit that we'll have to try to bring down. So we'll have to work within fiscal... make sure we are fiscally sustainable.
"If we are in the European Union and the UK remains outside the European Union, what does that mean around, for example, custom checks for goods? And we've talked about that in a recent paper."
Mr Yousaf used his speech to claim Scotland was ￡1.6billion worse off because of Brexit. He did so despite the figure having been questioned by the body whose work he used to come up with it.
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The vast majority of Scottish exports go to the rest of the UK meaning a hard border could have devastating economic consequences.
Scottish Conservative chairman, Craig Hoy MSP, told the Scottish Daily Express: "Even when travelling to other parts of the United Kingdom, Humza Yousaf can only focus on his obsession with breaking it up.
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"He continues to waste taxpayers’ money and resources on independence papers rather than focusing on Scots’ real priorities.
"People want to hear Humza Yousaf give speeches on NHS waiting times, our appalling drug deaths rate or on growing our economy, but all of those are sidelined as he pushed plans to break up the United Kingdom."
Mr Hoy said in swathes of seats across Scotland it is only the Scottish Conservatives who can beat Mr Yousaf and the SNP and turn the focus away from his independence "obsession" onto the real issues Scotland faces.
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