NICOLA Sturgeon has called on Theresa May to scrap the planned state visit to Britain by Donald Trump, saying it was currently “unthinkable” in light of his controversial response to the deadly violence in Virginia.

The First Minister’s intervention piles pressure on the Prime Minister to call off the three-day visit, now expected in 2018 after it was suggested the US President had called for a delay because he did not wish to be met by streets protests.

Mr Trump has attracted widespread criticism for failing to condemn far-right demonstrators outright for the violence in Charlottesville in which a woman was killed.

READ MORE: May hits out at Trump over his remarks following Charlottesville violence

He claimed there was “blame on all sides," apparently equating the actions of far-right demonstrators with those protesting against them.

In America, the latest to condemn the President’s remarks, albeit indirectly, were his Republican predecessors at the White House, George HW Bush and his son, George W Bush, who made clear in a joint statement that there was no place in America for “racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms".

At home, Ms Sturgeon said many people would be "deeply disturbed" by Mr Trump’s comments.

She told LBC radio: "You cannot draw an equivalence between far-right Nazis, people who peddle hate and racism and bigotry, and those who protest against that kind of ideology, and when you've got the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan praising the president's comments, it is time for him to perhaps reflect that he is on the wrong side of this debate.”

READ MORE: May hits out at Trump over his remarks following Charlottesville violence

The FM said she understood how there was a convention that leaders in one country did not comment on the words or actions of leaders in another country but, she stressed, “some issues are too fundamental for diplomatic silence”.

Ms Sturgeon went on: "It matters to all of us across the world that we stand up and are counted to combat the ideology of the far-right and that's a responsibility of all of us.

"I never thought it was the right thing to announce a state visit at the time that Theresa May did but the idea, at the moment, of President Trump making a state visit to the UK is unthinkable and perhaps it is time for the Prime Minister just to put that beyond doubt, that given these controversies, given some of the issues that are to the fore in America, now would certainly not be the time."

Sir Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, said the President had shown he was unable to “detach himself from the extreme-right and racial supremacists”.

He added: "It would be completely wrong to have this man visit the UK on a state visit."

READ MORE: May hits out at Trump over his remarks following Charlottesville violence

Nia Griffith, the Shadow Defence Secretary, tweeted: "A state visit by #DonaldTrump would shame this country and betray all we stand for. Theresa May should revoke the invitation immediately."

Her party leader Jeremy Corbyn has already called for the cancellation of Mr Trump’s state visit. Earlier this week following the violence in Charlottesville, he said: “What happened in Charlottesville was the KKK [Ku Klux Klan] and its supporters, white supremacists, arrived in Charlottesville in order to cause trouble. Surely every president of every country in the world...should be able to condemn that."

But No 10 made clear it was sticking to its original policy. A spokesman said: “An invitation has been extended and accepted. A date will be announced in due course.”

The President’s remarks received widespread criticism on both sides of the Atlantic with Mrs May adding her own condemnation.

READ MORE: May hits out at Trump over his remarks following Charlottesville violence

Speaking to reporters in Portsmouth, where she was attending the welcome for Britain’s new £3 billion aircraft carrier, the Queen Elizabeth, condemned the President, saying: "As I made clear at the weekend following the horrendous scenes that we saw in Charlottesville, I absolutely abhor the racism, the hatred and the violence that we have seen portrayed by these groups.

"The United Kingdom has taken action to ban far-right groups here, we have proscribed certain far- right groups here in the United Kingdom. And there is no equivalence."

On Twitter, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: ''The President of the United States has just turned his face to the world to defend Nazis, fascists and racists. For shame.''

Communities Secretary Sajid Javid posted: "Neo-Nazis: bad, Anti-Nazis: good, I learned that as a child. It was pretty obvious."