Scottish Election 2021 results: SNP MSP says 'not the end of world' if referendum takes another decade

One of the SNP's newly re-elected MSPs has said it would not be "the end of the world" if it took another decade before a referendum on Scottish independence was held.

John Mason who held Glasgow Shettleston, said he wanted to see support for independence in opinion polls exceed 70 per cent before another vote was held.

Mr Mason, who is generally seen as something of an outlier within the party he has represented at Holyrood since 2011, said consistent high polling was the best way of forcing Boris Johnson’s hand.

"We need to build up the support for independence, still,” he said.

“Most of the polls are showing support of between 45 per cent and 55 per cent. I would personally like to see it higher, because I think the higher it goes, the harder it is for Boris Johnson.

"I think he'll be less bothered about the number of SNP MSPs, although legally, that's a big issue. But say we got to 70 per cent [support] for independence – I think we'd have America on board, we'd have Australia, we'd have France, Canada.

"So I think partly it's our responsibility to get the support up, and that's where we're going."

The SNP's John Mason. Picture: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty

Asked if that project would take longer than a few years, Mr Mason replied: "I think some people will be patient, I think some people will be very impatient. But in the scheme of things, we've been in the union since 1707.

"If it was five or ten years, that's not the end of the world, but I would rather that it as sooner rather than later.”

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