Sunak jokes that Nicola Sturgeon faces prison as he takes aim at ‘forces of separatism’

Rishi Sunak took aim at Nicola Sturgeon during his speech at the Conservative Party conference, joking that Scotland’s former first minister could “go down”.

The prime minister told delegates in Manchester that the “forces of separatism are in retreat across our country” and made direct reference to Ms Sturgeon.

“Nicola Sturgeon wanted to go down in the history books as the woman who broke up our country,” Mr Sunak said.

“But it now looks like she may go down for very different reasons.”

His comments – which appeared to poke fun at the ongoing police investigation into the SNP’s finances – sparked laughter from the audience.