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Theresa May yesterday revealed her snap general election kicked off a bid to derail a second

independence referendum.

On her first appearance in Scotland since calling the election for June 8, the Prime Minister drew parallels between “extremists” and “separatists” in a controversial speech delivered in a small village hall in Crathes, Aberdeenshire.

And she insisted backing the Nats would help Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into Downing Street.

But after her speech, the SNP angrily insisted May had to “clean up her act”.

(Image: PA)

The PM flew to Aberdeen yesterday to rally supporters and attempt to win key target seats from the SNP, including deputy leader Angus Robertson’s Moray constituency.

Accompanied by Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, she campaigned in West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine, a seat the SNP won from the Lib Dems two years ago with a 7033 majority, which is now a top Tory target.

The West Aberdeenshire seat, Aberdeen South and Moray are among the seven seats a YouGov poll on Friday predicted would be lost by the SNP to the Tories.

On the campaign trail, May addressed more than 200 Tory supporters. She told them to a roar of approval: “We want to ensure that we build a more secure and united nation.

“That means taking action against the extremists who would divide us and standing up against the separatists who want to break up our country.”

She also repeated David Cameron’s claim two years ago that voting SNP would help Labour into No10.

Warning against a “coalition of chaos led by Jeremy Corbyn”, she said: “That’s what’s on offer, of course, because the other parties are lining up to prop up Jeremy Corbyn. We see it from the Liberal Democrats and we see it from Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish Nationalists.

“They want to disrupt our Brexit negotiations, undermine the task ahead, stop us from taking Britain forward.

“Every SNP MP who is elected to Westminster puts a step closer to Jeremy Corbyn getting into Downing Street.

“They want to disrupt our Brexit negotiations by disrupting this election. And make no mistake, it could happen.

“Just remember this, the opinion polls were wrong in the 2015 general election. They were wrong in last year’s referendum.

“And as Jeremy Corbyn himself has pointed out, he was a 200-1 chance as Labour leader in 2015. Look what happened there.”

May also described the election on June 8 as the “most important” one in her lifetime.

She said: “My message to the people of Scotland is clear – every vote for me and my team will strengthen my hand in the Brexit negotiations.

“That will strengthen the Union, strengthen the economy and the UK and Scotland together will flourish because if Scotland is flourishing, the rest of the UK is flourishing too. That’s really important because as Prime Minister of the UK, I want to see every part of our country succeed.”

(Image: AFP/Getty)

Last night, May was condemned by SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson over her remark comparing them to “extremists”.

Robertson said: “This is a prime minister who is ducking and dodging scrutiny every step of the way.

“She has a funny way of trying to win votes in Scotland. By referring to extremists and so-called

separatists in the same breath, she risks insulting almost half of the Scottish electorate.

“Language is important and the Prime Minister needs to clean up her act.

“She has so little confidence in her arguments that she is running scared of TV debates, while also avoiding contact with ordinary voters as far as possible.

“Now her carefully stage-managed flying visit to Scotland has failed to shed any light on some of the key questions she is running away from.

“That includes the issue of pensions – and specifically whether the PM will commit to retaining the triple lock on pensions.”

Scottish Labour general election campaign manager James Kelly said: “It’s laughable for Theresa May to claim the Union is safe in her hands.

“The Tories’ reckless Brexit gamble has given the Nationalists the excuse they have been looking for to try to force another independence referendum on the people of Scotland.

“Labour has been very clear that there will be no deals with the SNP. We stand firmly against another divisive independence referendum.”

May also vowed to support Scots fishermen by taking them out of the Common Fisheries Policy with Brexit.

The event was covered by the main TV news channels but they were unable to broadcast May’s speech live due to poor reception.

(Image: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA) (Image: Lesley Martin)

Local SNP MP Stuart Donaldson said: “The irony will not be lost on people living in rural areas who wish the UK Government would do more to support connectivity.

“I know the village hall well – unfortunately it wouldn’t be big enough for one of our local meetings.”

Labour’s Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell tweeted that May was “hiding in a forest”.

Elsewhere on the campaign trail, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon was in the Glasgow East constituency with her party’s candidate David Linden.

And Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale joked with MP Ian Murray as they met voters in Edinburgh’s Morningside.