Nicola Sturgeon has said no country in the world would choose to come under UK Government control.
She timed the remarks with one year to go until her proposed date for another referendum, which barely a third of Scots support.
Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said:
“As usual, the First Minister is trying to stoke up grievance and division among Scottish people to further her own political aims, when a clear majority do not want a referendum next year at all.
“The more the nationalists stoop to this kind of toxic rhetoric, the more it shows they have run out of ideas.
“The answer to the recent financial turmoil we have seen is not to create infinitely more chaos that we would see by breaking up the UK.
“Perhaps she should use this opportunity to drop her plans for another divisive vote and focus on what really matters.
“The people of the UK are stronger together, and we can all enjoy a bright future by rejecting the kind of aggressive nationalism being put forward by the SNP.”
