Jacob Rees-Mogg joins in with the Conservative leadership candidate's criticism, saying the first minister is 'very often wrong' and 'always moaning'

By Sophie Morris and Jennifer Scott, political reporters

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Liz Truss has suggested she would "ignore" Nicola Sturgeon if she were to become the next leader of the Conservative Party.

Speaking at the latest Tory leadership hustings in Exeter, the foreign secretary called Scotland's first minister an "attention seeker" and responded "no, no, no" when asked about the prospect of another independence referendum if she were to become PM.

"I really believe we are a family, and we're better together," she said.

"I think the best thing to do with Nicola Sturgeon is ignore her. She's an attention seeker, that's what she is."

Politics Hub: Truss and Sunak go head-to-head once again

One of her backers, Brexit opportunities minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, doubled down on the comments this morning, saying Ms Sturgeon was "waffling on endlessly about having a referendum", rather than focusing on "the failings of the Scottish government to deliver the services for the people of Scotland".

He told Sky News the country got through the COVID pandemic "because of the support that there was for the United Kingdom as a whole", not because of the first minister "doing daily press conferences [and] wanting a permanent lockdown".

Mr Rees Mogg added: "I think she is very often wrong, she is always moaning and we need to focus on how the union benefits people."

Asked if his and Ms Truss' remarks would worsen the situation with the Scottish government, he replied: "No... what they do is [get] the SNP gets very cross. Well of course the SNP gets very cross, it's permanent default state is a state of mild fury, a lot of it confected.

"What we need to do is make the arguments about why the United Kingdom is successful for the people of Scotland and how the United Kingdom as a whole has helped the people of Scotland when the Scottish government has consistently failed in key public services."

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But former minister and Tory MP Liam Fox said Ms Sturgeon had to be "treated with respect".

Mr Fox, who is backing Rishi Sunak in the leadership contest, told Sky News: "Whenever I hear politicians accusing other politicians of being attention seeking, I do tend to raise an eyebrow.

"When it comes to the first minister of Scotland, they have a constitutional position, they have to be treated with respect.

"But at the same time we also have to accept the SNP are a one trick pony who constantly go on about independence and they go on about a referendum when things get difficult for them in domestic Scottish politics."

Labour shadow minister Kerry McCarthy says comments like Mr Rees-Mogg's and Ms Truss' "do very little for having a constructive relationship".

She said her party "supports the union", and do not support Ms Sturgeon's calls for a referendum, but told Sky News: "I think the sort of name calling, saying she is attention seeking for pursuing the cause that she has been elected to do as an elected SNP politician, I think it is pretty juvenile and I think sadly that's the way the Conservative Party leadership contest seems to be going."

Co-leader of the Scottish Greens, Lorna Slater, also hit back at Ms Truss, saying she had shown "total disrespect" to the first minister, along with "a contempt for everyone that voted for a pro-independence majority of MSPs in last year's election".

She added: "She knows that the democratic case for a referendum is unanswerable, so she would rather patronise us and ignore us."

What else happened in the hustings?

Meanwhile, fellow leadership contender Rishi Sunak declared himself "definitely the change candidate" and spoke against uncosted tax cuts because of the economic problems they could bring - to which he received loud cheers from party members in the audience.

Both candidates also said that they would look closer at the Online Safety Bill.

Ms Truss said she will be "making sure that it protects free speech", while former chancellor Mr Sunak said he will look again at the "legal but harmful" provisions in the bill.

In a lighter moment during the almost two-hour session, rapid-fire questions saw both candidates disclose the professions they would like to be doing if they weren't MPs.

Ms Truss said she would like to be a food critic or writer, as she enjoys food.

Mr Sunak disclosed that he wanted to be in Star Wars when he was younger, but would now be extremely happy to run his beloved Southampton Football Club.

The former chancellor was keen to make an impression, having been left on the back foot from the very start of the hustings after former leadership challenger Penny Mordaunt announced her endorsement of Ms Truss.

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Getting into policy, Ms Truss said she considers rural communities as part of levelling up and pledged to fix rural broadband and infrastructure issues.

She was also cheered for vowing to get rid of solar farms and once again pledging to cut taxes.

"I will channel the spirit of the Lionesses who fought bravely against the odds, and got things done, and delivered a massive victory," she said, referring to England women's victory over Germany in the Euro 2022 final yesterday.

"We have to have that confidence in ourselves."

Despite an at times bitter contest thus far, Ms Truss also said she would have the "fantastic" Mr Sunak as "part of my team" if she becomes PM.

Mr Sunak himself was applauded by Tory members after saying Ms Truss' policies on corporation tax are "exactly the failed Treasury orthodoxy of the last 10 years".

"I want to reform the corporate tax system. Liz Truss' policies on corporate taxation are exactly the failed Treasury orthodoxy of the last 10 years, which hasn't worked. I want to change it and grow the economy," he said.

Mr Sunak also stressed there is a need for "more flat-pack housing" - and to be bold in reforming the NHS.

Asked about the increasing use of technology in public services, he said: "Right now we've got this massive problem with the backlogs.

"As they've already done in some trusts, we can use software automation and AI to massively rip through all of the triaging and processing of them and clear up the lists, and that's going to clear up processing times."

Challenged by a member of the audience over his loyalty to the current PM, Mr Sunak replied: "I respectfully disagree because I was loyal to Boris Johnson for the two and half years that I had this job."

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Later on Monday evening, Ms Truss set out her plans to cut Whitehall waste, bureaucracy and inefficiency, which her team claims would save the taxpayer up to £11bn a year.

The foreign secretary said she will launch a "war on waste", scrapping diversity and inclusion jobs, tackling "the injustice of taxpayers being forced to fund trade union facility time and making sure civil servants are focused on delivering front line services.

But her proposals met with a furious response from a major civil service union, which vowed to oppose her plans "every step of the way".

Mr Sunak and Ms Truss will once again face the cameras this week on Sky News.

On Thursday at 8pm from Sky Studios in west London, The Battle for Number 10 will see them take part in back-to-back questioning from a live studio audience made up of Conservative members still largely undecided on who to vote for.

This will be followed by an in-depth interview with Kay Burley.

The programme will be broadcast live for 90 minutes and for free on Sky News channel 501, on Freeview 233, on Sky Showcase channel 106, and across Sky News' digital channels.