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An SNP minister asked if she could do-over a car-crash interview - without realising it was being broadcast live.

Scottish Education Secretary Angela Constance got tongue-tied under tough questioning on the BBC's Sunday Politics programme on her party's position on University Tuition fees.

In an excruciating moment, the MSP stumbled over her words, saying "twenty-thousand and twelve", when she meant 2012.

She fumbled for a moment, before asking presenter Gordon Brewer for another go.

"Sorry, are we able to do that again?", she asked. "I've just said 20,012."

Brewer replied: "Alright, 2012. Off you go...we are live by the way"

After an awkward moment, and a pained facial expression, Constance said: "Right...OK...forgive me, forgive me...I thought it was a pre-record."

The Education Secretary buckled under questioning over the SNP's policy on reducing grants for poor students, while maintaining free tuition fees for all.

The party has been criticised by the National Union of Students for the policy, which has seen the total non-refundable grants awarded plummeting by 38% since 2006.

Constance claimed the SNP had "put more money in the pockets of the poorest students" since 2012.

But the party has moved the focus away from non-repayable bursaries to student loans.

This resulted in poorer students racking up more debt than students from wealthy backgrounds.

Constance also evaded questions over new figures from Ucas, which suggest more people from low income backgrounds go to university in England than in Scotland, despite tuition being free north of the border.

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She said: "It's actually very difficult to compare those figures..." before Brewer interrupted to point out she'd compared them herself a few moments earlier to make her own point.

He asked: "So we can compare them when you like the comparison, but we can't when you don't like the comparison?"

She said the comparison could not be drawn because the figures don't include students who entered University via further education in Scotland, but it does in England.

But she was unable to fully explain why that made the comparison impossible.

As the programme moved on to the following segment, Constance could still be faintly heard on an open microphone explaining that she "didn't know it was live."