The Scottish Government will propose a second referendum on independence if attempts for the country to stay in the EU fail, the First Minister has said.

Nicola Sturgeon made the announcement to MSPs in a statement to the Scottish Parliament before she heads to Brussels for talks with the European Union.

The SNP leader said she is not asking for an endorsement for a second referendum at this stage but she will propose one if Scotland cannot stay inside the European Union while part of the United Kingdom.

Sturgeon said: "It is for that reason that I have said that everything must be on the table to protect our place in Europe - including a second independence referendum.

"And to ensure that the option of holding a referendum within the time frame of UK negotiations on leaving the EU is viable, we will prepare the legislation now and secure time for it in our forthcoming legislative programme.

"However, let me clear about this: if the government concludes that the only way to protect Scotland's place in the EU is through a referendum on independence we will return to parliament with that judgment and it will then be for parliament to decide.

"I am not asking parliament to endorse that step today. A vote for this motion is not a vote for a referendum on independence."

Scotland voted to stay in the European Union last Thursday by 62% to 38%. The United Kingdom as a whole backed leaving the EU by 52% to 48%.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said the "economic impact" of Scotland leaving the UK would "eclipse" that of leaving the UK.

Her party are proposing an amendment to the government's motion which calls on the 2014 referendum result to be "respected".

Davidson said: "The First Minister speaks of people in Scotland who are worried and outraged at the EU result.

"I feel duty bound today also - to speak up for the many people in Scotland who have contacted me and my colleagues in the last few days to say they too are worried, deeply worried, about the prospect of another referendum on independence.

"And that is why we have included our opposition to this prospect in our amendment today. You do not dampen the shock waves caused by one referendum by lighting the fuse for another. Nor by saying that the economic impact of leaving one Union means you should sever ties with a greater Union whose value in trade eclipses the former many times over.

"My view is this: My arguments in favour of the UK in 2014 were not just based on the economic risks of independence - convincing as they were.

"It was also because I believed that we in Britain had more in common than that which divides us".

Scottish Labour will vote for the Scottish Government's motion which will ask for a "mandate" to negotiate with the European Union to "protect" Scotland's place within it.

The party's leader, Kezia Dugdale, warned the First Minister it would be a "betrayal" of the faith they are showing in the government if they take the vote as an endorsement for a second independence referendum.

"So the First Minister may leave this chamber with the faith of these benches to speak to Europe in the best interests of securing Scotland's future in both the EU and the UK. But that faith can only be maintained by regular communication, involvement and briefings from the government to opposition parties.

"A faith maintained by a continued understanding that as First Minister, she travels to Europe with a duty to represent Scots that voted both Yes and No, Scots that voted both remain and to leave. But that faith would be betrayed if the First Minister tries to present our support for this motion as support for a second independence referendum."