David Cameron could face a second independence referendum in Scotland within the next three and a half years if Britons vote to leave the European Union, Alex Salmond has said.

The former First Minister of Scotland also said that Scots were more welcoming of immigrants because most people in the country knew family members who had emigrated overseas.

Mr Salmond was speaking ahead of his participation in The Telegraph’s EU referendum debate with Conservative Brexit supporter Boris Johnson on Tuesday night.

Scots would expect another independence referendum before 2020, if a Brexit is triggered by a majority vote in England but not in Scotland in the EU vote in 10 days' time.

This is because after a Leave vote Britain would be expected to negotiate her exit from the EU within two years, as set out in the Lisbon treaty.