HUMZA Yousaf’s plan to claim a mandate for a new independence vote on the back of the general election has been plunged into confusion by one of his own MPs.

The First Minister told the SNP’s independence convention that if the party won a majority of seats it would be a mandate to open negotiations with London or demand Indyref2.

He said a referendum remained his “Plan A”.

His team later confirmed the plan was not the same as Nicola Sturgeon’s proposal for a ‘de facto referendum’ in which winning 50%-plus-1 of the votes cast was taken as a win.

Instead, Mr Yousaf would see winning 29 or more of the 57 Scottish seats as a mandate.

But the SNP’s longest serving MP, Pete Wishart, later flatly contradicted this, saying the aim was “50%-plus of the popular vote”.

READ MORE: Humza Yousaf claims SNP general election win would be mandate for Indy

He told delegates ar Dundee’s Caird Hall: “I liked immensely what I heard this morning. I was really encouraged.

“And I will be walking out of this hall with a spring in my step, with a renewed enthusiasm to deliver independence for our nation, because this is now going to happen.

“I feel more certain of that than I have ever been in my 22 years in the Westminster parliament. It is going to happen.”

He went on: “We have to conclude that the referendum route to independence is now more or less closed. It may come back in the future. There may be an opportunity to revive it.

“But as we currently observe, the current conditions, we have to conclude that is the case.

“We know that because the UK Government have been telling us that for the past God knows how many years. They’ve said they will not engage in the process and they’ve told us quite clearly they will not give us the necessary powers for us to have that referendum.

“It is time to start listening to what the UK Government are saying and conclude that that route is closed.

“What we’ve got to do, and what I like about what I heard this morning, is we have got to take the matter into our own hands.

“If we as a party secure 50%-plus of the popular vote that will be a clear indication that Scotland has voted for independence and that is what we will deliver to Westminster.”

READ MORE: Humza Yousaf challenged by heckler at SNP convention over NHS scandal

The remarks were cheered by the audience.

The Perthshire MP went on: “Now, what will Westminster do? They haven’t proven to be the greatest democrats in the world, have they? But it doesn’t really matter.

“We’re not responsible for what Westminster says. The only thing that we can do is to deliver the verdict of the Scottish people and that is something they will never take away from us.

“I think we are at a key position in the way forward.”

Mr Yousaf also tweeted his belief that Mr Yousaf had declared a de facto referendum.

He wrote: "De facto it is. Fantastic.

"Nearly everything I have said we should do has now been adopted in our new approach to independence.

"We will now take the matter into our own hands.

"If the Scottish people vote for the SNP at the next election that means we have voted for independence."

Summing up after members' contributions in an afternoon session, Dundee East MP Stewart Hosie said he agreed with Mr Wishart that the party was taking matters into its own hands.

He told delegates: "I agree with him entirely.

"We are taking the matter of independence into our own hands. We know what a mandate looks like.

“Alister Jack [the Scottish Secretary] knows what a mandate looks like. If they’re going to say no, They better have an answer or a note from their mother otherwise we’re out the door.”

Mr Hosie said the convention was “precisely”  about having a plan on independence.

“We heard the First Minister this morning, that the victory for the SNP at the general election will give effect to independence.

“Now, as to precisely what that means, we’re about to have our regional meetings where we will digest and sitil this even further, until we reach our annual conference in the autumn and we will present a definitive view on exactly what that means."

Tory MSP Donald Cameron said: “Humza Yousaf’s plans to turn the next election into another referendum on independence appear not to have filtered through to his longest-serving MP.

“Chaos is already engulfing the SNP and they can't even get their ducks in a row on their plans for a de facto referendum on independence.

“The SNP should of course be focussing on Scotland’s real priorities such as the global cost-of-living crisis, fixing our NHS and strengthening our economy. Instead they're planning yet another divisive referendum in their endless pursuit of separation."