JO Swinson has been accused of “utterly grotesque” double-standards after confirming she would apply different rules to rerunning the independence referendum and reversing the one on Brexit.

The UK Liberal Democrat leader said that if her party won the next general election it would annul the result of the EU referendum and revoked the Article 50 withdrawal process.

However, she also said the SNP should not be allowed to hold a second independence vote if it won the next Holyrood election.

The SNP said it was “appalling” arrogance on the part of the East Dunbartonshire MP.

The Scottish Tories claimed Ms Swinson and Nicola Sturgeon were "peas from the same pod" because of their desire to ignore referendum results.

It followed Scottish LibDem leader Willie Rennie saying on Sunday there should not be a second referendum on independence in his lifetime, even if the SNP and Greens won a majority at the next Holyrood election.

Speaking from her party’s conference in Bournemouth, Ms Swinson was challenged on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about her party’s new policy of revoking Article 50.

If the party won power, it would cancel Brexit without a second referendum on the issue.

Ms Swinson was asked if her party’s position was effectively the same as the SNP going into a Scottish election promising Indyref2 if it was endorsed by voters.

“It seems like such a fundamental hypocrisy, doesn’t it, on your behalf?” she was asked.

READ MORE: Mark Smith: A pro-independence majority at Holyrood is not a mandate for another referendum. It’s time we changed the rules

She replied: “I want our country to thrive, Scotland in the UK and the UK in the EU. The problem we’re facing right now which, whether it’s a people’s vote or whether it’s a general election can resolve, is how to get out of that chaos.

“What we’re talking about in terms of Scotland, the idea of an independence referendum, is about adding more chaos onto an already difficult situation.”

It was put to her that it was a point of principle, “that either you can overturn a referendum by putting something in your manifesto and getting elected or you can’t.

“You’re saying in Great Britain writ large you can, but in Scotland you can’t.”

She replied: “I’m saying that the last thing Scotland needs right now is Indyref2.”

READ MORE: Willie Rennie: Indyref2 should be blocked even if the SNP/Greens win Holyrood election

Pressed again on whether she was applying a “different principle” to Scotland compared to the UK, she did not deny, but said: “I think we’re better off staying together.

“I think the United Kingdom is stronger as four nations working together, and I think that the European Union is stronger with 28 nations working together.

“My general principle of being open and internationalist, it is about working collaboratively, cooperatively with other countries to tackle shared challenges, and it is absolutely consistent to want Scotland to be in the UK and the UK in the EU.

“Arguably, I think it is much more inconsistent for the SNP to want out of the United Kingdom but to stay in the European Union, and the opposite for the Conservative party.”

SNP Westminster Depute Leader Kirsty Blackman MP said: “Jo Swinson's hypocrisy on this is utterly grotesque and shows that she and her party are neither liberal nor democratic.

“Her arrogance in thinking she can stand in the way of the electoral verdict of the people of Scotland is appalling.

“She and Willie Rennie are every bit as anti-democratic as Boris Johnson.

“It seems she only believes in democracy when it suits her and is happy to ignore the fact that Liberal Democrat supporters across the UK now back a referendum on Scottish independence.

“Support for independence, and for having a referendum, is on the rise – and nothing Jo Swinson says can stop that.”

Acting Scottish Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said: "Jo Swinson backed holding the Brexit referendum - but because she doesn't like the result, she's now saying we should ignore the will of the British people.

"She is taking her party into dangerous territory. No matter which side you campaigned for, political parties should respect the result of referendums.

“But just like Nicola Sturgeon, Jo Swinson and Willie Rennie are now saying that they get to pick and choose which referendums should be honoured and which should be ignored.

"Jo Swinson and Nicola Sturgeon are peas from the same pod."