NICOLA Sturgeon has hit out at Douglas Ross after the Scottish Tory leader backed UK government plans to send some asylum seekers to live in Rwanda.

The First Minister also accused the Conservatives of trying to “stoke a culture war” in a bid to take attention away from Boris Johnson's fixed penalty notice for breaching strict lockdown rules.

On Thursday, the Prime Minister and Home Secretary outlined plans to hand an initial down-payment of £120m to the government in Kigali, to allow the UK to send single men and some women to the central African country, where they will be encouraged to apply for refugee status. 

The UK government hopes it will deter people from crossing the Channel in small boats. The number of people making the perilous journey has already passed 5,000 this year, more than double the 2021 total at the same point.

Speaking to the PA news agency at a campaign event in Clarkston, East Renfrewshire on Friday, Mr Ross said something had to be done.

He said: “We’ve seen lives being lost with this illegal trafficking so the proposal is to try and do something to stop the 28,000 people who made that crossing in the last year.

“Over 90 per cent of those are single men, they’re coming over here as economic migrants and it’s to try and break that link to prevent and deter them from doing that because remember they’re coming from France.

“They’ve already reached a safe country but they’re trying to come to the United Kingdom and they’re encouraged to do so by illegal human traffickers who are making thousands upon thousands of pounds out of their illegal activity.

“Anything that can be done to try and deter that and minimise the number of people making that dangerous crossing is something we have to look at.”

But he acknowledged that concerns over Rwanda’s human rights record would need to be addressed, adding: “We also have to listen to and respond to the legitimate concerns that have been raised, particularly about the human rights in Rwanda, where these people are going to to have their asylum verified and considered.”

Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Tory leader’s support for the plan was proof he’d never stand up to his own party leader.

The First Minister told journalists: “Douglas Ross earlier this year for what seems like five minutes tried to pretend that he had an independence of thought from Boris Johnson and the UK Government, but any illusions about that I think had been completely shattered by him.

“If he can’t even find it within himself to stand up and speak out against a policy as disgusting as this then I’m not sure what he will be able to stand up to Boris Johnson or the UK Government on.”

The First Minister also reiterated her outrage at the policy, which she described as “disgusting and despicable”, adding: “I don’t think it will be effective.”

“More than all of that I think it is one of the most unethical, shameful policies I’ve seen from a UK Government and that’s a big big statement for me to make,” she continued.

“It’s bad on its own terms, but the fact that it is being set out at a time when, clearly, the motivation is to distract from Partygate I think deepens that sense of disgust people will have and that it’s been deliberately used to try to stoke some kind of culture war.”