NICOLA Sturgeon has accused Boris Johnson of being “terrified of Scotland’s right to choose” after he rejected her demand for a second independence referendum.

The First Minister hit out after Mr Johnson knocked back her call for Holyrood to be given the power to hold a fresh independence poll.

She said the Scottish Government would set out its next steps before the end of the month – when it will also hold another vote in the Scottish Parliament on the issue.

READ MORE: Boris Johnson rejects Nicola Sturgeon's demand for second independence vote

She said: “The Tories are terrified of Scotland having the right to choose our own future.

"They know that given the choice the overwhelming likelihood is that people will choose the positive option of independence.

"The Tories – and their allies in the leaderships of Labour and the Lib Dems – lack any positive case for the Union, so all they can do is try to block democracy.

"It shows utter contempt for the votes, views and interests of the people of Scotland and it is a strategy that is doomed to failure. 

“While today’s response is not surprising – indeed we anticipated it – it will not stand.

READ MORE: Read Boris Johnson's letter to Nicola Sturgeon as PM rejects second independence vote

"It is not politically sustainable for any Westminster government to stand in the way of the right of the people of Scotland to decide their own future and to seek to block the clear democratic mandate for an independence referendum. 

“The problem for the UK government is that the longer they try to block a referendum, the more they demonstrate that the Westminster union is not a partnership of equals and the more support for independence will grow.

"It will also mean for the Tories that the loss of half of their seats suffered at the recent general election – fought by them on the sole issue of opposition to an independence referendum – will be only the start of their road back to political oblivion in Scotland.

“In short, as well as being unsustainable, the position set out today by the UK government is also an entirely self-defeating one.

“The Scottish Government will set out our response and next steps later this month when we will also ask the Scottish Parliament to again endorse Scotland’s right to choose.

“One thing, though, is clear – the people of Scotland will get the right to decide our own future in an independence referendum.

"The Westminster union cannot be sustained without consent. Democracy will prevail.

"The only question is how long it will take the Tories and the rest of the Westminster establishment to accept that inevitability.”

In a letter to Ms Sturgeon, the Prime Minister said he had "carefully considered" the case she had made for powers to be transferred to Holyrood that would allow it to hold a vote on Scotland's future.

But he said both she and her predecessor Alex Salmond had made a "personal promise" that the referendum in 2014 was a "once in generation" event.

Mr Johnson said: "The UK Government will continue to uphold the democratic decision of the Scottish people and the promise that you made to them. For that reason I cannot agree to any request for a transfer of power that would lead to further independence referendums."

He added: "Another independence referendum would continue the political stagnation that Scotland has seen for the last decade, with Scottish schools, hospitals and jobs again left behind because of a campaign to separate the UK.

"It is time that we all worked to bring the whole of the United Kingdom together and unleash the potential of this great country."

Revealing the letter on Twitter the PM stated: "Today I have written to Nicola Sturgeon. The Scottish people voted decisively to keep our United Kingdom together, a result which both the Scottish and UK Governments committed to respect.

"Let's make 2020 a year of growth and opportunity for the whole of the UK."