TWO SNP MSPs have appealed to their party leader to re-think the outright opposition to Alex Salmond's Alba.

Gil Paterson and Alex Neil have called on the SNP to reconsider its stance against Alba's proposal for immediate talks on independence in the event of a pro-independence super majority being elected to Holyrood.

In a joint statement Mr Paterson and Mr Neil said pro-independence parties must work in unison to "maximise the impact of a super majority".

It comes after several polls this weekend have shown the SNP are on course for a majority on Thursday, with the Alba arty and Greens potentially creating a super-majority of pro-independence MSPs. 

Mr Paterson and Mr Neil said the joint effort "must include serious consideration" of Alba's suggestion that the "newly elected Scottish Parliament use its political muscle to demand urgent negotiations with Boris Johnson on progressing Scottish independence."

They added: "The UK Government has to be sent a clear message that the Scottish people and their Parliament will not take no for an answer to their constitutional demands. Boris Johnson cannot be allowed to ignore or undermine the democratic mandate of the Scottish people any longer."

Mr Paterson added: "We are not asking Nicola to endorse a motion she hasn’t yet seen but simply agree to consider supporting the principle that the new Parliament should give serious consideration to ALBA’s proposal to demand an immediate opening of negotiations on independence with the UK Government.”

Alex Neil added: "Whilst we must continue to deal with the immediate issues regarding the coronavirus pandemic, there is no reason why we should not also be pursuing our constitutional demands at the same time.

"To fully recover economically from the pandemic we will need the tools that only independence can give us to do that successfully."

The SNP was contacted for comment.