Nicola Sturgeon takes veiled swipe at Donald Trump after president claims election is being stolen

Nicola Sturgeon has said the coming hours and days are “crucial... for the integrity of US democracy” following Donald Trump’s statement insisting a “massive fraud” has occurred in the election without evidence.

The US president, who has attempted to drum up controversy about mail-in ballots – which could favour is rival Joe Biden – insisted he had won the election.

He set the scene earlier for a fight in the US Supreme Court about the outcome, which still hangs in the balance with key states Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan still to declare results.

Watch: Trump says he will go to the Supreme Court over election

“This is a fraud on the American public, this is an embarrassment to our country,” he said on Wednesday morning UK time.

“We were getting ready to win this election – frankly we did win this election.

“So our goal now is to ensure the integrity for the good of this nation. This is a very big moment.

“We want the law to be used in a proper manner. So we will be going to the US Supreme Court, we want all voting to stop.”

Trump’s comments have caused concern for some observers given the received wisdom that mail-in ballots, which represent a large amount of votes, will likely be in favour of rival Biden, potentially handing him the presidency after they are counted.

On Wednesday morning, Scotland’s first minister Sturgeon tweeted that there are “crucial hours and days ahead for the integrity of US democracy”.

“Let’s hope we start to hear the voices of Republicans who understand the importance of that,” she added.

Trump has falsely claimed there have been “big problems and discrepancies” with mail-in ballots, and despite his pressing for a final count on election day, some states may need days to count all votes arriving by post.