BREXIT is boosting the case for Scottish independence, Tony Blair has admitted.

The former Labour Prime Minister said it was “absolutely bloody obvious” to him that if Scotland were wrenched out the EU against its will it would help the Yes movement.

“It doesn’t mean to say I agree with it, but it’s bound to have an impact,” he said.

In an interview with Holyrood magazine, Mr Blair also said that Scotland might be independent already if his government hadn’t introduced devolution 20 years ago.

He said the creation of a Scottish Parliament provided an “alternative to independence” and that if it didn’t exist, the UK might have broken up instead.

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Asked whether he understood why Scotland had voted so differently from the rest of the UK in the EU referendum, he said: “Yes, because I think the degree to which this was driven by a sense of English nationalism, it’s obviously going to be more powerful in England than Scotland, and also because I think Scotland is quite comfortable with a European identity.

He acknowledged Brexit may have made independence more likely.

“I’m not saying it will happen, because I still think there are very strong arguments against it, and obviously I’m not in favour of it, even after Brexit, if we do Brexit.

“But you know, I think when I said this before people criticised it, but it seems to me absolutely bloody obvious, if Scotland is in favour of staying in Europe, and you wrench the UK out of Europe, then yep, people who are arguing for independence are going to have another dimension to their argument.

“It doesn’t mean to say I agree with it, but it’s bound to have an impact.

“The thing that’s most frustrating to me about politics today is that we’re not arguing about the right thing. We’re arguing about national identity, when it really isn’t the answer to anything, it really isn’t.”

Scotland voted 62-38 Remain in 2016, while the UK as a whole voted 52-48 Leave.

Mr Blair also admitted that he had over-estimated the power of devolution to dampen calls for independence, and wished Scotland and the UK had stayed “more culturally aligned”.

Mr Blair’s former shadow Scottish Secretary George Robertson famously said in the 1990s that devolution would kill Nationalism “stone dead”.

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Mr Blair told Holyrood: “Ultimately, I think we overestimated, for sure, the degree to which devolution would quash independence, that’s correct … But I think were it not for Brexit now, probably the mood in Scotland would be less in favour of independence than for some time.”

He added: “I think if I had any regret, I would have looked at more ways to keep Scotland and the UK feeling more culturally aligned.

“But having said that, I think people forget that there was a huge amount of pressure for devolution as an alternative to independence and if we hadn’t offered that alternative, you might have had an independent Scotland by now.”

Deputy SNP leader Keith Brown said: "Make no mistake, Scotland having some powers has been good for Scotland. However today the debate is now fundamentally different from what was asked in 1997.

"The foundations of Westminster politics are crumbling, with Labour and the Tories choosing to ignore Scotland’s voice and disregard the will of our Parliament, as they fixate themselves on bitter party infighting.

"It’s clear that the case for independence is more compelling than ever. While Brexit offers small minded isolationism, independence is about Scotland taking its place on the global stage as an equal partner.”