Nicola Sturgeon to make statement on her updated indyref2 plans

Nicola Sturgeon is expected to set out her position on a second independence referendum when she makes an announcement later on Tuesday following the general election result.

She called for a new vote to be held between the autumn of next year and the spring of 2019, but has been "reflecting" on a disastrous night for the SNP on which it lost 21 seats, including those of Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson, the party's Westminster leader.

According to reports she is set to abandon her original timetable in order to concentrate on pushing for a soft Brexit while keeping the option of a fresh referendum on the table.

She tweeted that she would be seeking the agreement of the Scottish Parliament to "make a statement later today on the way forward for Scotland after the General Election".

 She has faced calls from all three pro-Union parties to abandon her calls for another vote altogether and has faced calls from some senior figures in the SNP to "park" her timetable for a fresh attempt to break-up Britain because of the response of voters.

She had been due to give a speech on Brexit to the Association of British Insurers in London but her appearance was cancelled on Tuesday morning.

Her plans for a statement on the "way forward for Scotland" has been brought forward in the wake of the controversial deal between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which will see £1 billion of new money going to Northern Ireland, but no additional funding for other parts of the UK.

She described the deal as "grubby" while her new Westminster leader Ian Blackford said it summed up how little the Tories care about Scotland. He added that it was the first bit test for Ruth Davidson and her new Scottish Tory MPs.

The SNP claimed that Scotland would lose out on around £2.9 billion for public services because of a lack of knock-on funding for Scotland and Wales

Theresa May has repeatedly told the First Minister that now is not the time for another referendum, while David Mundell, the Scottish Secretary, said there were no circumstances in which it could be held before the next Scottish Parliament election in 2021.