THE SCOTTISH Greens have insisted that Boris Johnson will fold to demands for a second independence referendum and have not drawn up a Plan B if the UK Government refuses to acknowledge a mandate for a re-run of the 2014 vote.

The party has launched its Holyrood election manifesto and has stressed that “an independence referendum should be held during the next parliamentary session”.

The document adds that the question and timing of any repeat of the 2014 vote “should be decided by a simple majority of the Scottish Parliament”.

It adds: “The Scottish Greens will campaign and vote for a referendum within the next Parliamentary term and under the terms of the Referendums Act (2020).

“We believe that the UK Government’s refusal to respect a pro-independence majority in the Scottish Parliament would not be politically sustainable and could be subject to legal challenge.”

The party’s co-leader, Lorna Slater, has insisted that if Holyrood returns a pro-independence majority, as she expects will happen, another vote should be held in the next five years, but only once the pandemic has been dealt with.

READ MORE: Greens manifesto includes millionaire's tax and frequent flyer levy plans

She said: “For us, we would not commit to a shorter timescale because of the Covid crisis.

“We feel that during such a referendum campaign, it would be important for us to be able to campaign effectively - to consult with the people.”

Ms Slater added: “We can’t do that until the Covid crisis is eliminated or under control.

“As soon as Covid is under control, I think we can look at doing something.”

The SNP has stressed that if the Prime Minister ignores calls for a second vote to be held despite a pro-independence majority in Holyrood, plans should be drawn up for the Scottish Parliament to legislate for a referendum – likely to lead to a legal battle with the UK Government.

But the Greens have not set out an alternative route to independence if Mr Johnson continues his stance on indyref2 – but are open to supporting a legal challenge.

Instead, the party believes Mr Johnson will cave to pressure and will be in his interests to grant a second referendum sooner rather than later.

Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie said: “The refusal by the UK to even talk about this would be politically untenable.

READ MORE: Greens' Harvie doesn't expect Salmond to secure return with Alba Party

“It is possible that it could be legally challenged as well. We would be open to exploring that.”

Ms Slater added that “if this is a democracy, then the people of Scotland have the right to decide what kind of government they should have”.

She added: “It's clear the people of Scotland have a right to have their say.

“The speculation in the media I’ve seen this week is that actually Boris Johnson is thinking of calling it sooner rather than later. To be fair, that’s probably in his interests.

“We know from polling that something like 85% of young people between the ages of 16 and 24 agree that independence is normal and support Scottish independence.

“If he’s got any chance of winning his side of the argument, he’s going to have to call it pretty soon.”