Theresa May has given the clearest indication yet she is preparing for a second independence referendum as she pledged not to allow the Union between Scotland and England to “drift apart” thanks to Brexit.

The Prime Minister used a speech to the Scottish Conservative conference to deliver an impassioned case for the United Kingdom, arguing that unlike the EU it was not a “marriage of convenience or a fair-weather friendship.”

In a half-hour address, she set out a detailed case of the “enduring” economic, security and social benefits to Scotland of remaining in the UK and pledged to resist Nicola Sturgeon’s demands for a swathe of new powers being repatriated from Brussels.