First Minister John Swinney has said a potential majority in Scotland's May election would be taken as a green light to demand another independence referendum.
Speaking on Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme, the Scottish leader said he believed the Scottish National Party (SNP) had to do "really well" in May's vote for there to be another independence referendum.
Asked by Phillips whether he thought May's polls were an "independence election", Mr Swinney replied: "I'm being straightforward with people in Scotland that if people in Scotland want Scotland to become independent, the SNP has got to do really well in this forthcoming election."
He continued: "It's got to achieve a majority in the Scottish parliament because when that happened before in 2011, it led to a referendum in 2014 and the Scots were able to determine their own constitution."
Asked what he would say to Scots if UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer turns down another referendum request, Mr Swinney said: "I think there's two things about that.
"First of all, the United Kingdom is allegedly a partnership of equals, so Scotland has got a democratic right to decide our own future.
"And secondly, if I win a majority in the Scottish parliament elections in May of this year, I don't think Keir Starmer will be the prime minister."
The SNP is currently the largest party in the Scottish parliament with 60 MSPs out of 129.
The last time Scottish people took to the polls to decide on whether Scotland should gain independence from the UK was in 2014, when more than two million people (55.3%) voted No and 1.6 million (44.7%) voted Yes.
Following the defeat, then first minister Alex Salmond stepped down and was replaced by Nicola Sturgeon.
Read more: John Swinney sets out latest plan for independence referendum
Although indyref was touted as a "once in a generation opportunity to follow a different path", dissatisfaction with the result has led to campaigners continually calling for a second vote.
The previous Conservative government steadfastly refused to consent to a second referendum.
The argument went all the way to the UK Supreme Court, which ruled in 2022 that the Scottish government cannot legislate for indyref2 without Westminster approval.
It threw a spanner in the works for Ms Sturgeon, who had previously proposed plans to hold a second referendum - known as indyref2 - on 19 October 2023.
Watch the full interview tomorrow on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.
(c) Sky News 2026: Scottish leader John Swinney says SNP winning majority in May election would be green
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