Nicola Sturgeon orders EU flag to be flown from Scottish government buildings daily

Nicola Sturgeon has ordered that the EU flag is flown from Scottish government buildings every day, despite Britain no longer being a member of the bloc.

Opponents of the First Minister said the demand showed her "obsession" with constitutional issues and "makes no sense" in light of Brexit.

The request was included in updated official guidance over which flags should be flown from buildings run by the Scottish government and its agencies.

While the Union Jack is to be flown on only one day a year –Remembrance Day – Ms Sturgeon "instructed that the European flag is flown from Scottish government buildings on a daily basis except for specific flag flying dates", the guidance says.

Dean Lockhart, the constitution spokesman for the Scottish Tories, said: "The UK has left the EU, so Nicola Sturgeon's personal decision to order the flying of the EU flag on Scottish government buildings makes no sense.

"It reconfirms the SNP's refusal to accept referendum results and their ongoing focus on constitutional issues at the expense of more important priorities. But we should not be surprised. Like all nationalists, Sturgeon is obsessed with flags."

Last year, the SNP narrowly won a vote to keep the EU flag flying outside the Scottish parliament despite fears that the move compromised the neutrality of the parliamentary estate.

A Scottish government spokesman said: "The EU flag is flown to reflect the overwhelming vote of the people of Scotland to remain in Europe, and as a mark of solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of EU citizens who continue to call Scotland home despite Brexit."

In the 2016 referendum, the Scottish public voted to remain in the EU by a margin of 62 to 38 per cent.