An independence referendum will be held "within the next five years" if the SNP win the general election in Scotland, according to the party's Westminster leader.
Stephen Flynn said if his party wins a majority of seats in Scotland and said he doubted if Sir Keir Starmer would follow the strategy of previous Conservative Prime Ministers in flatly rejecting the demands of the SNP if Labour wins this election.
"Of course [independence] is on the ballot paper," Mr Flynn told ITV news last night.
"Everyone knows what the SNP stands for. We believe in Scottish independence."
READ MORE: BBC Scotland debate: Key exchanges as party leaders clash
"What we will seek to do is to win a majority of seats in this election, win as many seats as we possibly can right across Scotland, and we will seek to put into effect that mandate from the Scottish people as our party policy is."
When pressed on how he would deliver this pledge, given the failures of previous SNP attempts, he said: "The difference here is we've had Boris Johnson, Liz Truss, and Rishi Sunak.
"We're soon going to have a Labour Prime Minister. Are you suggesting a Labour Prime Minister is going to follow the same tact as those three individuals and deny the people of Scotland the mandate that they provide to the SNP?"
He was asked if the SNP will hold a referendum within five years.
READ MORE: BBC Scotland debate: Leaders clash on independence
Mr Flynn said: "Yes, I believe we will be in a position to get those powers which are set in Westminster to be set in Holyrood and we would seek to put them into democratic effect because that is the right thing to do."
A Labour spokesman said the party would "flatly reject" any SNP request for another independence referendum should they win the election.
Polling indicates Scotland is split almost down the middle on independence, with recent numbers putting support for Scotland leaving the UK just below 50%.
However, recent opinion polls also suggest the SNP will not win a majority of the 57 seats north of the border.
A survey carried out by Savanta and published at the end of last month suggested Labour would win 28 seats (up from two) and the SNP 18 (down from the 48 it won in 2019) and 11 less than the 29 needed for a majority.
Scottish Conservative shadow constitution secretary Meghan Gallacher MSP said: "Stephen Flynn has made it crystal clear to Scottish voters that breaking up the UK will be the top priority for all SNP MPs elected on July 4.
"We already knew that independence will be 'page one, line one' of the SNP manifesto but now their Westminster leader has gone even further with this referendum vow.
"The Scottish public will be dismayed, but not remotely surprised, that the SNP are ignoring their real priorities - fixing Scotland's ailing public services and growing the economy - to obsess over independence.
"The only way to stop this fixation with breaking up the UK and switch the focus to the issues that really matter is to defeat the SNP - and, in key seats across Scotland, only the Scottish Conservatives are capable of doing that."
The SNP has not yet revealed its party manifesto, which is expected to be published next week.
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