SCOTTISH Labour leader Richard Leonard accused First Minister Nicola Sturgeon of “trying to rig the process” of a second independence referendum during a heated exchange at Holyrood today.

Addressing the First Minister, Mr Leonard asked: “Who is more expert on setting a clear, transparent and neutral referendum question: the Electoral Commission or [Cabinet Secretary for Government Business and Constitutional Relations] Mike Russell?”

Mr Leonard went on to cite Scotland's Electoral Commissioner Dame Sue Bruce, who said before a parliamentary committee that any future referendum question needed to be tested by the Electoral Commission to ensure “integrity of the process.”