NICOLA Sturgeon has insisted Scottish independence “has never been about separatism” as she forecast the country could rejoin the European Union family of nations "soon".

The Scottish Tories said the claim was “ludicrous” and the SNP’s “whole agenda” was about separatism and driving a wedge down the middle of the country.

However the First Minister said leaving the UK would help “maintain the internationalist, welcoming European ethos held by so many people in Scotland” which was threatened by Brexit.

She said Scotland’s forced departure from the EU, after a 62-38 vote to Remain in 2016, was the culmination of successive UK government it in the wrong direction.

“It’s no wonder so many people in Scotland have had enough,” she said.

Ms Sturgeon’s comments, made in article on the Politico Europe website, coincided with the first day of full-blown Brexit and new trading era between the UK and its biggest market.

The UK completed its separation from Brussels at 11pm on Hogmanay, leaving the single market and customs union, having already left the political union at the end of January 2020.

Trading between the UK and its biggest market is now governed by the 1,246-page deal agreed on Christmas Eve and passed into law at Westminster on Wednesday.

A minute after the change arrived on Thursday night, Ms Sturgeon tweeted: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.” 

She expanded on the them in her Politico article, which made it plain that Brexit will be a key plank of the SNP’s Holyrood election campaign this year.

She wrote: “The idea of Scottish independence has never been about separatism. 

“It is instead about the right of people to decide the form of government best suited to their needs. That right has never been more important given the threat Brexit poses to the internationalist, welcoming European ethos held by so many people in Scotland.

“We are comfortable with multiple identities and the other countries of the UK will always be not just our closest neighbours, but our closest friends as well.

“But for too long, successive U.K. governments have taken Scotland in the wrong direction, culminating in Brexit and the introduction of legislation that had threatened to break international law, and which still undermines the Scottish parliament. 

“It’s no wonder so many people in Scotland have had enough.”

She went on: “As an independent member of the European Union, Scotland would be a partner and a bridge-builder — not just a bridge to building a stronger economy and fairer society, but a bridge to aid understanding between the EU and UK.

“More and more people in Scotland believe our aspirations can best be met by continuing to contribute to the shared endeavour and solidarity that the EU represents. 

“Because of Brexit, we can now only do this as an independent member state in our own right. 

"We have been inside the European Union family of nations for nearly 50 years. 

“We didn’t want to leave and we hope to join you again soon as an equal partner as we face the opportunities and challenges of the future together.”

In a message to her impatient party activists, Ms Sturgeon again ruled out a wildcat referendum if Mr Johnson keeps blocking Indyref2.

“We are committed to a legal, constitutional route to becoming an independent state.” 

A Scottish Conservatives spokesperson said: “The SNP’s whole agenda is about separatism and driving a big wedge down the middle of our country and it is ludicrous for the First Minster to suggest otherwise.

“Their obsession with breaking Scotland away from the United Kingdom always comes ahead of everyday issues facing Scots in areas like health and education, and this includes tackling the pandemic.

“The SNP’s divisive agenda was clear for all to see when they voted for a No Deal Brexit, and against the Government’s deal. This is something they said they would never do, but then did, just so they could oppose the UK Government.”

In 2017, Ms Sturgeon also tried to distance the SNP from nationalism and wished she could change its name.

She told the Edinburgh International Book Festival the word “national” could be “hugely problematic”.

She said: “The word is difficult. If I could turn the clock back, what 90 years, to the establishment of my party, and choose its name all over again, I wouldn't choose the name it has got just now, I would call it something other than the Scottish National Party.”

UK ministers have warned the end of seamless trade and arrival of full-blown Brexit will be “bumpy” as businesses and hauliers adjust to new paperwork and bureaucracy.

Thanks partly to lower trade volumes on the New Year’s Day holiday, freight appeared to be moving freely at the borders with Ireland and France today.

One of Scotland's major ferry ports was quiet on the first day after the Brexit transition period ended, with no queues or disruption.

Fourteen freight lorries and a handful of cars were on the first ferry to leave Scotland for Northern Ireland under the new rules - the 11.30am Stena Line ferry heading from Loch Ryan Port, near Stranraer, to Belfast.

One lorry driver told the PA news agency he experienced no issues getting through security and that "everything was fine".

However Stena Line ferries reported six freight loads travelling from Holyhead in Wales to Ireland had to be turned away because they lacked the correct paperwork.

Eurotunnel and the port of Dover said services were running “smoothly” but on the other side of the Channel in Calais, customs director Jean Marc Thillier warned the arrangements would face a “trial by fire” when traffic flows surged after the holiday weekend.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, the Prime Minister said  yesterday marked the end of a “47-year experiment”, which had benefits for the UK as well as frustrations.

He said the EU had provided the UK with a “safe European home” in the 1970s, when the country was run-down and struggling to cope with loss of Empire, but it had now “changed out of all recognition” with global perspectives.

He said the “great new deal” with the EU honoured the  promises of the 2016 referendum, and the UK had “taken back control of our money, our laws and our waters”.

He wrote: “And yet it is also the essence of this treaty that it provides certainty for UK business and industry, because it means that we can continue to trade freely – with zero tariffs and zero quotas – with the EU.

“It doesn’t mean that we will be less European or leave our friends in the lurch. 

“That would go completely against the history of the last two centuries or more."

French president Emmanuel Macron used his New Year message to say that while the UK remains a “friend and ally”, Brexit was born of a European malaise and “many lies and false promises”.