Nicola Sturgeon has said she would prefer a Labour government in London but was accused of employing “dangerous language” when she added she “detested” the Tories. The Scottish first minister said Labour would clearly do a better job at Westminster than Liz Truss’s Conservatives, even though she said Keir Starmer had “thrown in the towel” on the EU by refusing to reverse Brexit. Questioned by Laura Kuenssberg on BBC One as to who she would rather have as prime minister, Sturgeon said: “That’s not a difficult question, if the question to me is would I prefer a Labour government over a Tory government? I detest the Tories and everything they stand for, so it’s not difficult to answer that question, so yes. “But I want to say two things. Firstly, you know, being better than the Tories is not a high bar to cross right now. I think we need to see more of a radical alternative from Labour rather than just a pale imitation. “And if you’re asking me do I think either a Westminster Tory government or a Westminster Labour government is good enough for Scotland, then my answer to that question is no.” Sturgeon’s remark about “detesting” the Tories earned an immediate rebuke from the chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster, Nadhim Zahawi, who told Kuenssberg in a later interview on the same programme: “I think that language is really dangerous.” Former leader of the Scottish Tories Ruth Davidson later suggested the comment was “a rhetoric-raising strategy” ahead of Sturgeon’s speech to the SNP conference on Monday. Sturgeon’s remarks on Labour are significant because the party has become the closest rival to the Scottish National party (SNP) after its support in Scotland surged after the economic and financial chaos unleashed by the UK government’s disastrous mini-budget in late September. With the SNP holding its annual conference in Aberdeen this weekend, Sturgeon’s colleagues have repeatedly attacked Labour, claiming they are essentially identical to the Tories. A series of polls last week put Labour support in Scotland above 30%, replacing the Tories in second place behind the SNP, which remains dominant on about 45%. In many Westminster and Holyrood seats, Labour is the SNP’s closest challenger. On Saturday, Keith Brown, the SNP’s deputy leader, described Labour as “the handmaidens of more Tory rule” for supporting Brexit, resisting Scottish independence and falsely claiming the UK would uphold basic economic competence before the 2014 referendum. Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, told delegates that Labour was “happy and hungry” to do backroom deals with the Tories, and had adopted the “ridiculous” position of trying to make Brexit work. “And of course, that’s not all,” he added. “As well as pledging their support for Brexit, Labour’s other big pledge is never to work with us in the SNP.” The contrast between Sturgeon’s qualified support for a Labour government in London and her colleagues’ undiluted attacks illustrates a conundrum for the first minister: while Labour is the SNP’s main opponent in Scotland, at a UK level it is far more aligned on key social and spending policies and is expected to devolve more policymaking and taxation powers to Holyrood. On Sunday, SNP attacks on the Tories became more full-throated. Challenged about Sturgeon’s remark, her deputy John Swinney said it was important to make clear “dividing lines in politics”, before using his conference address to describe the Tories as “a bunch of reckless hypocrites” who had “set fire to the UK economy” in recent weeks. Swinney – who has already announced £500m worth of cuts from the Holyrood budget and was forced to launch an emergency budget review in the wake of Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting package – warned delegates that Scotland faced a “new age of austerity”. In her interview with Kuenssberg, Sturgeon defended her plans to use the next general election as a “de facto” or proxy vote on Scottish independence if the UK government refuses to authorise a legally watertight referendum. This week the UK supreme court will hear the Scottish government’s claims it has the legal power to stage a referendum without Westminster consent. Sturgeon implied she knew the court could find against her government and said an election would be the “last resort” to prove Scottish voters wanted independence. That would require more than 50% support for the SNP and potentially other pro-independence parties – the latest polls suggest she is short of hitting that target. SNP backbenchers worry those polls raise significant doubts about the wisdom of turning an election into a single-question contest. A Savanta poll for Scotland on Sunday, published shortly before Sturgeon’s BBC interview, found only 32% of voters backed that strategy.