Scotland could leave the UK without a second independence referendum if the SNP performed well in another general election, a senior Nationalist MP has said.

Joanna Cherry told a fringe event at the SNP party conference in Glasgow that a "democratic event" such as an election in Scotland could be co-opted to decide on separation.

Ms Cherry, the party's home affairs spokesman at Westminster, said another alternative was to get a minority Labour government and force Jeremy Corbyn to pay a "high price" for the SNP's support.

The Nationalists would demand Mr Corbyn give them the power to hold another independence vote in return for staying in 10 Downing Street, she said.

The Edinburgh South West MP said they could also demand that Trident nuclear missiles are removed from Scotland.

In a second controversial intervention at the same event, an SNP activist attacked "Neanderthals" moving to Scotland "across the Border from the south."