ANY pro-independence majority at the Holyrood election is “very clearly” enough to secure a mandate for a second referendum, Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie has said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Scottish Conservative conference at the weekend that the party can “stop an SNP majority” and prevent another vote. 

But Mr Harvie insisted a majority made up of Green and SNP MSPs – such as currently exists – would be enough to push for another referendum. 

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He told The Herald: “Anyone who believes in democracy needs to respect a majority in the Scottish Parliament if, for a third time in a row, we elect a pro-independence parliament.”

He was speaking as the Greens launched their Holyrood election campaign on Calton Hill in Edinburgh with the slogan: “Vote like our future depends on it.”

The Greens took six seats at the last election and their support has helped the minority SNP Government win key votes at Holyrood.

Asked if the Greens and SNP should have common wording in their manifestos around a second referendum, to minimise ambiguity, Mr Harvie said: “I think it’s very clear that the Greens as well as other parties, including the SNP, do believe that it should be for the next Scottish Parliament, if there’s a pro-independence majority, to set the timescale. 

“And anyone who’s a democrat I think really does need to respect that. 

“So I don’t think it needs to get more complicated than that. It’s a very clear, very straightforward principle.”

Mr Harvie said opinion polling shows people “don’t necessarily want this question put to them in a referendum in the middle of a pandemic”. 

But he said that as Scotland exits lockdown in the next few months, “I think people will be ready to look at those choices, those big choices for the future about the kind of country we want to be”.

He said the Greens are clear that independence “is not just an end in itself”. 

He added: “It’s actually about saying, how can we make Scotland a better place? 

“How can Scotland taking its place in the wider world help to make the world a better place?”

Asked if anything less than an SNP majority would allow Mr Johnson to refuse a second referendum, Mr Harvie said: “I don’t think should worry too much about whether Boris Johnson is going to have a principled position on this.

"I don’t expect him to have a principled position regardless of what the election result is.

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“But what we need to celebrate and assert is that Scotland does have the ability now – has done for 20 years – to have its will expressed in its own parliament.

“This will be the third election in a row, I’m very confident, where Scotland chooses a pro-independence parliament. Greens will be part of that. 

“But it’s not an end in itself.”

Mr Johnson told the Scottish Tory virtual conference on Sunday: "Friends, you are the only party that can stop an SNP majority and their drive towards a second independence referendum."