14:10

Alex Salmond denied that he was putting forward a different message about second independence referendum in Scotland than First Minister Nicola Sturgeon on the BBC’s Sunday Politics programme today.



Last week, the First Minister said the election was “not about

independence or about another referendum”.

During his weekly radio programme, Salmond told a listener that there would be another vote on Scotland’s future within five years, saying:





The general election is to reinforce the right of the Scottish Parliament to decide when the time is right for another independence referendum and if you get that sort of overwhelming vote for the SNP, then the PM’s opposition will crumble.

Asked by Andrew Neil on the BBC”s Sunday Politics programme if there

was a different message being put by himself and Sturgeon, Salmond

replied:

No. I have said exactly the same as Nicola Sturgeon on that. The issue of independence will be decided in a national referendum of the Scottish people. The mandate for that referendum was gained in last year’s Scottish elections. What this election is about is backing the right of the Scottish Parliament to exercise that mandate and also providing real opposition to this Tory government and of course allowing the Scottish Parliament to resist austerity and some of the public expenditure cutbacks that you’ve been talking about. That is what this election is about: backing our Scottish Parliament.”



Commenting on the interview, Scottish Labour General Election campaign

manager James Kelly said:



Alex Salmond’s car crash interview exposed the reality of the SNP’s record in government ... Alex Salmond let the cat out the bag last week when he said this election is about forcing another divisive independence referendum. When people go to the polls for the council elections on Thursday and the general election on 8 June they can vote Labour to elect a local champion; or they can vote SNP to elect a candidate who will only focus on another divisive referendum.

Meanwhile a Panelbase poll for the Sunday Times Scotland found that 52% of voters believed the PM should not stand in the way of a fresh referendum if the First Minister made a manifesto commitment to try to secure one and won a majority of the Scottish seats. It placed support for independence at 45%, unchanged from the 2014 referendum.

SundayTimes Scotland (@SundayTimesScot) Today's SundayTimesScotland front page.Polls says SNP election win is #indyref2 mandate. Brexit battle gets personal pic.twitter.com/gSJ38FJ2Dg

The survey found 41% favoured independence for Scotland inside the EU

while 10% supported Scottish independence outside the EU; 48% said

they would prefer Scotland to remain inside the UK but outside the EU.



The SNP won a landslide in Scotland In 2015, winning 56 out of 59

seats. Opinion polls have suggested the Tories will gain a number of

seats from the Nationalists but the SNP are still expected to be the

majority party.