Nicola Sturgeon has insisted that spending another £20 million on preparations for another independence referendum was a "really good investment" despite the cost of living crisis.
The Scottish Government yesterday published a spending review which showed that public services - with the exception of the NHS and social security - could see their funding slashed over the next four years.
But opposition parties hit out after it also revealed that millions more will be spent on an IndyRef2 - which the First Minister has insisted will take place before the end of next year.
Sturgeon was challenged at First Minister's Questions on how that could be justified during the cost of living crisis.
Tory leader Douglas Ross said: "With so many families struggling why is her government allocating a further £20 million for an independence referendum?"
The SNP leader fired back: "Every year right now the Scottish Government is having to invest more than £700 million mitigating the impact of Westminster policies that Scotland did not vote for - the Bedroom Tax, the rape clause, the removal of Universal Credit.
'So yes - I think £20 million, or 0.05 per cent of the entire government budget, to give the people of this country the opportunity to choose a better future, is and will be a really good investment."
The Tory MSP accused Sturgeon of "obsessing" over independence and claimed that spending £20 million on an IndyRef2 was "shameful" during a cost of living crisis.
The First Minister responded: "Douglas Ross might want to consider what is causing the cost of living crisis - it is soaring inflation.
"Inflation in the UK, thanks in large part to the utter folly of Brexit, is the highest of any G7 country.
"That is part of the price of Westminster government - it is a Tory-created cost of living crisis."
Sturgeon continued: "So yes, I do think £20 million to give Scotland the choice of a better future - a Tory-free future - is a good investment."
It comes as a new poll published today shows that Scots are split down the middle when it comes to the big constitutional question, with support for independence deadlocked at 50-50 with support for the Union.
The poll also found Scots disagree on the timing of a second referendum on independence - with just a third backing Nicola Sturgeon's ambition of holding a vote by the end of next year.
A third of respondents think an IndyRef2 should be held after 2023 while around a third (31%) say that there should never be another referendum on independence at all.
To sign up to the Daily Record Politics newsletter, click here.
