03:11

Alex Salmond has said he believes Scotland must now stage a second independence referendum before the UK’s exit from the European Union is agreed – a timescale that suggests a new referendum within the next two years.

He said the Brexit vote, despite a large majority in Scotland in favour of the EU, is a material change in Scotland’s constitutional position. Salmond told BBC Radio Scotland: “This changes the whole context of Scottish independence.”

The former first minister and Scottish National party leader said his successor, Nicola Sturgeon, now had to implement her manifesto pledge to call for a second referendum if there was “a significant and material change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will”.

Salmond said: “I’m quite certain that Nicola will start to implement that manifesto.”

Alex Salmond MP. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

His intervention implies that he expects Sturgeon to press for a quick second poll. She has been hesitant on the case for an immediate referendum because there is no clear or substantial support for it in recent opinion polls.

Sturgeon is due to make a statement in Edinburgh this morning. While insisting that her government is given a direct role in the UK government’s negotiations with the EU on exiting, the first minister could also demand that Westminster gives Holyrood the legal authority to stage a second referendum if it wants to.