ALAN Brown has thrown his support behind Nicola Sturgeon’s plans to vote on independence within the next two years.

It comes after the First Minister addressed the Scottish Parliament and set out the possibility of a vote on independence by the end ofthe SNP’s current Holyrood term (2021).

Now the MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun has echoed the call that Scotland should have a say on independence if Brexit succeeds.

The SNP were re-elected for a third administration back in 2016 and within their manifesto they pledged to give Scotland a say if the country was taken out of Europe against its will.

Scotland voted 62 per cent in favour of remaining in the European Union but votes in England dictated whether Scotland would get to remain or not.

Commenting, Mr Brown said: “The First Minister is spot on and I agree wholeheartedly with her statement.

“Our first objective is to try and prevent the whole of the UK being led down the Brexit stream without a paddle, but if that fails we must look to securing Scotland’s place as an independent nation within the European Union.

“There are people out there saying there’s no mandate for another referendum but for me it is crystal clear. In 2016 the SNP manifesto stated the Scottish Parliament should have the right to hold a referendum on independence ‘if there is a significant and mater ial change in the circumstances that prevailed in 2014, such as Scotland being taken out of the EU against our will’.

“This happened when two months after the manifesto was published Scotland voted 62 per cent in favour of remaining in Europe, but this was ignored and results elsewhere have dictated our country’s future for us. It makes it all the more frustrating when in 2014 the No Campaign used remaining in the EU as an argumentto stay in the Union.

Frankly, the only way to safeguard EU membership for Scotland is through independence from the UK.

“For two election campaigns – Holyrood 2016 and Westminster 2017 – we have pledged to give Scotland a say after we have been dragged out of Europe against the will of our people. The SNP has always put the interests of Scotland before anything else – we make no apology for this as we continue to stand up for Scotland.

“Having worked in Westminster for just shy of four years now, and seeing firsthand the chaotic and farcical process, I have never been so confident Scotland can rule itself in a far more efficient manner.”