First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has accused Jeremy Corbyn and his Labour Party of stalling on supporting either a parliamentary confidence motion in Theresa May's leadership or a second referendum.

Slamming the leadership of Theresa May, the First Minister said that Labour were the only thing standing in the way a parliamentary majority for a fresh vote on the EU referendum.

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She told BBC Radio 4: "This shambles simply can't go on.

"The government has had two and a half years to come up with a coherent Brexit plan, it has failed to do so.

"Yesterday's delay of the vote was another kicking of the can down the road, wasting valuable time.

"It is a government that has ceased to govern, it's not functioning any longer, so it can't go on and I think it is incumbent now on the official Opposition to launch a motion of no confidence.

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"I signalled yesterday the SNP would support that, and then one of two things happen, a vote of no confidence, which would be obviously the preference and we get rid of this government and try to find a different path forward for the country.

"Or if it doesn't win, it clears out of the way what appears to be Jeremy Corbyn's only excuse for not backing another EU referendum to give people the opportunity to cast their verdict on this shambles and change their mind and stop Brexit."

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Asked if she had made any effort to contact Jeremy Corbyn behind the scenes, the First Minister said: "My colleagues in Westminster were having discussions with him yesterday.

"As I understand it, they don't think the time is right for a motion of confidence.

"For goodness sake, if the time is not right now, when will the time be right?

"The clock is ticking, time is running out and if there is to be a different path found - and there must be a different path found to the one that Theresa May currently has the UK on - there isn't time to lose."

She also stated that Labour's excuse for not backing a second EU referendum was because they would rather have a confidence vote and a general election.

Ms Sturgeon said the only thing blocking a parliamentary majority for a fresh vote was the fact that "Labour is not yet behind that".

She told Today: "If Labour get behind that, I do think there is a prospect of a majority for that.

"There is perhaps a greater prospect now for a majority for that than for anything else.

"But, in order to put that to the test to get to that point, we need to get Labour off of the fence that it is determinedly sitting on right now and backing a clear way forward.

"A clear way forward is another vote because Theresa May's plan is not going to get a majority, she simply is running down the clock."

She added that "allowing people to have their say" was the only way to resolve "this sorry mess" in another vote on EU membership.