THE consultant who helped Better Together win the 2014 independence referendum has declared that he believes that the pro-independence cause could win a second referendum.

Quintin Oliver is the public relations and conflict resolution expert who ran the successful Yes campaign for the Good Friday agreement in his native Northern Ireland in 1998 before he became consultant to the Better Together campaign in the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.

Having recently stood down as head of the Stratagem agency in Belfast after it was taken over by Connect Comms, Oliver has given an interview to the Irish News which will surely upset his former Better Together colleagues.

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He told the Irish News: "If the SNP get a second referendum it is certainly winnable.

"I never thought they'd win it in 2014 and believed there'd be a 60-40 per cent victory for the Unionists but I now believe they can win."

Brexit and Tory austerity have energised the emotional vote for independence, said Oliver, who was a long-term friend of Alex Salmond after they were in adjoining rooms at St Andrews University.

“London has become so unattractive, economically and politically," he added.

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"Whereas once the Scots regarded the Edinburgh Parliament as a parish council and Westminster as the heavyweight, they now see that the mother of all parliaments is hopelessly divided and making short-term, irrational decisions.

"In contrast Scotland appears much more certain – things have flipped compared to five years ago."

He added that Scottish independence would have a huge impact on Northern Ireland where unionists would see a Yes vote as “cataclysmic”.