The Union flag and Saltire are seen flying side by side at Bankfoot in Perthshire ,Scotland January 10, 2012. REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Scotland’s devolved government is right to start preparing legislation for a new independence referendum after Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, but a new vote should be decided by “clear public appetite” for one, a spokesman for the Scottish Greens said on Saturday.

The Green party is the kingmaker for the pro-independence Scottish National Party, which is two seats shy of a majority at Scotland’s devolved parliament.

“It is too soon to say whether and when a further referendum on Scottish independence will take place, but in the wake of the EU referendum result few people will doubt that it must be on the table,” a spokesman for the party told Reuters.

Scotland voted 62 to 38 percent to remain in the EU in a referendum on Thursday, sharply contrasting with Britain’s overall 52-48 percent vote to leave, a result which has left the country and its allies in shock and opened the possibility of further rupture within the UK itself.