A SPLIT has emerged at the top of the SNP over how to use the six-month delay to Brexit.

Nicola Sturgeon said the time should be used to hold a second EU referendum.

However senior members of her party responded by saying the priority should be a second vote on independence instead.

Western Isles MP Angus Brendan MacNeil said the SNP should not be "kicking the Indyref2 can" down the road.

He suggested on Twitter that a referendum could be held as soon as August “but Scot Gov would need to campaign on that and not Euroref2 to be a reality”.

He tweeted: “The #Brexit can has been kicked down the road again … we cannot follow suit by kicking the #indyref2 can behind it.”

He told The Herald: "Theresa May might be kicking the can down the road but the Scottish Independence campaign shouldn't be kicking the can down the road anymore.

"A campaign should be underway, plans to hold a referendum should be happening, and once a campaign is underway, we then decide on a date." 

Chris McEleny, the leader of the SNP on Inverclyde Council, who sits on the SNP’s ruling National Executive Committee, said Scots should vote on independence in September.

Mr McEleny, whose view is shared by many in the Yes movement, urged the SNP to put the drive for an independence referendum “front and centre” this summer.

READ MORE: Alex Salmond takes swipe at SNP leadership over Indyref2

Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly promised an update on an independence referendum “in a matter of weeks”, but continued uncertainty over Brexit has delayed it.

With the UK facing a Tory leadership contest and a general election in the next few months, there is little prospect of Brexit clarity anytime soon.

Responding to the calls for a swift Indyref2, the First Minister said she understood people's "impatience" but cautioned that in order to win over a majority of voters: "We need to do things at the right time and in the right way." 

EU leaders agreed in the small hours of this morning to extend the Article 50 withdrawal process to October 31 in order to avoid a no-deal exit on Friday.

Theresa May had requested a shorter delay until the end of June, but her counterparts at an emergency summit in Brussels did not believe she could secure a Brexit deal by then.

However the UK will be allowed to cut short the extension if Mrs May strikes a deal with Labour or MPs reached consensus on another option, such as a customs union.

In response, Ms Sturgeon said it was a “relief” that the UK would not be “crashing out” thanks to the patience of the EU.

On Twitter, she said the extra time should be used to put Brexit to a People’s Vote.

She said: “The UK must not waste this time - allowing people to decide if they still want to leave is now imperative. And Scotland’s interests must be protected.”

READ MORE: Nicola Sturgeon expresses relief after Brexit extension agreed 

In practice, it would be extremely difficult to hold a second EU referendum by the end of October - and only if the UK Government started work on it immediately.

Some senior SNP figures, including Mr MacNeil, have frequently criticised Ms Sturgeon’s emphasis on a People’s Vote, calling it a distraction from independence.

READ MORE: SNP MP tells Nicola Sturgeon 'people have waited long enough' for Indyref2

Ms Sturgeon is now facing calls from within the SNP hierarchy to prioritise Indyref2.

Mr McEleny, who has twice run for the SNP deputy leadership and represents ordinary members on the National Executive, said: “Brexit has crystallised for many that as part of the UK the voice and the opinion of Scotland simply does not matter.

“As part of the UK we are now being dragged out of the EU regardless of what people in Scotland want.

“With an extension to the end of October, we now have the clarity that people required. People in Scotland should be given the opportunity to voice their preference on the future they want for Scotland.

“Before the UK leaves the EU, it is now time to press with everything we have to give people the opportunity to decide if they want Scotland’s future relationship with the EU decided for them, or if they want to take that decision into their own hands, by deciding that Scotland should become an independent country.

“An independence referendum in September of this year would give us that opportunity.”

The issue is likely to come up at the SNP conference at the end of this month.

Ms Sturgeon is already facing a grassroots backlash over the leadership's plan to keep using the pound after independence.

Pamela Nash, chief executive of Scotland in Union, said: “The SNP is deeply split over its plans to scrap the pound, and now there are fresh splits emerging over Nicola Sturgeon’s indyref2 strategy.

“It is deeply irresponsible and reckless to advocate a divisive second independence referendum as early as this autumn.

“With the Brexit deadline extended and further uncertainty for our economy, the very last thing we need is even more constitutional uncertainty.

“It’s time for Nicola Sturgeon to listen to the majority of people in Scotland and drop the threat of an unwanted second independence referendum.”

Scottish Conservative chief whip Maurice Golden said: "These remarks expose the motivation of the SNP’s involvement in the Brexit process.

“Nationalists aren’t interested in a successful departure from the EU.

“Instead, they want to stoke division and use any and every opportunity to demand another independence vote.

“That will always be the SNP’s one and only priority, and proves why the party is utterly unfit for government.”

Asked about using the delay to push for a second independence referendum, Ms Sturgeon told Bauer Scotland: “I’ll set out my thinking on that after the Easter recess [at Holyrood].

“But I understand the impatience of people who, like me, believe absolutely that the best future for Scotland is to be independent.

“Last night, those countries that were deciding the UK’s future with the UK out of the room included a dozen countries that have populations smaller than or similar in size to Scotland, yet it’s Scotland that’s completely sidelined by Westminster in this whole process.

“So, ironically, Brexit, which was all about taking back control for Westminster, has actually highlighted how much power and influence Small countries have within the European Union.

“So the case for independence is stronger than it’s ever been. But we need to do things at the right time and in the right way. Because we’ve got to convince a majority, not just of the SNP, but a majority of the people of Scotland that independence is the best future.”

An SNP spokesperson added: "Scotland has been ignored by the UK Government throughout this whole Brexit disaster. 

“The contrast between the contempt shown to Scotland by the Tories and the influence other countries our size have exerted as independent EU members couldn’t be clearer.”