In a letter written to Michael Gove today, the SNP has said there will be no more work undertaken on gaining Scottish independence this year. Constitution secretary Mike Russell wrote: “Because of the crisis, the Scottish Government has paused work on preparing for an independence referendum this year. We have also written to the Electoral Commission to make clear we do not expect it to undertake testing of a referendum question until public health circumstances permit such activity.”

“That will allow us to focus all available resource on current and future demands in what is an unprecedented set of circumstances.

“It follows from this that a referendum will not take place this year.”

Mr Russell also called upon the UK to take “equivalent action” by delaying the Brexit process.

He suggested UK and EU trade negotiations should be put off for six months to factor in the coronavirus crisis.

He added: “It would seem impossible for businesses and others to cope with the enormous challenge of coronavirus while at the same time preparing for a completely new relationship with the EU in nine months’ time.”

It is hoped by the SNP that the UK and Scottish Governments will continue to “work closely together” during what has been described as an “unprecedented” time.

And Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Murdo Fraser has welcomed the decision.

He described it as “very welcome news and will come as a relief to workers and businesses alike”.

At the start of the year, Ms Sturgeon vowed to go to “war” with Boris Johnson over Scottish independence.

The First Minister said the Prime Minister “cannot lock us in the UK forever” and said she would fight on to ensure Scotland became independent.

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She told Italian newspaper La Repubblica: “It’s not really about whether Boris Johnson wants to stop independence, not even about whether I want independence.

“It’s about what people in Scotland want. You cannot lock a country into a Union forever against its will.

“If Scotland or any other part of it no longer wants to be part of that union, then it can not be the case that forever it can be denied the right to choose.

“Boris Johnson and I may have a bit of a locking of horns in a war of attrition, a political war of attrition yet to go.

“But at the end of the day, it’s what people in Scotland want that will determine this issue.”

Mr Johnson had previously written to the First Minister to formally reject a bid for a second vote.

He described a referendum as creating “political stagnation” which he said Scotland had faced for many years.

The Prime Minister added: “It is time that we all worked to bring the whole of the United Kingdom together and unleash the potential of this great country.”

Ms Sturgeon resisted the Prime Minister’s comments at the time, describing them as “unsustainable and self-defeating”.

However, it appears she has now been backed into a corner by the coronavirus, and will have to postpone her plans.

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