SCOTS should have the opportunity to vote again on independence if the country is taken out of the EU, Green leader Patrick Harvie said.

Speaking at the party’s annual conference in Perth, Mr Harvie said the Scottish Government should be supported in publishing the bill for a second referendum.

However, he set out a significantly different vision of an independent Scotland to the SNP.

He also warned the SNP not to count on Green support for its budget later this year unless it shifts on its “standstill tax” plans.

The Glasgow MSP said there was a democratic deficit at the heart of the two referendum results in Scotland, where 55 per cent voted to stay in the UK and 62 per cent to stay in the EU.

Mr Harvie said there was “a fundamental conflict between those two results”.

He added: “We were told the only threat to Scotland’s EU membership was independence.”

He said the EU result in Scotland had to be respected.

Mr Harvie warned of the implications of Scotland leaving the EU, and rounded on the Leave campaign as “reckless, appalling, disgraceful and manipulative”.

It would cost Scotland 80,000 jobs he said and reduce wages by £2,000, according to estimates.

However, he warned the SNP that their vision of independence had to change in the light of Brexit.

He questioned the effectiveness of a currency union between an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK with Scotland in the EU and the UK not.

There was also a warning over an economy dependent on fossil fuels.

He said there was an “over reliance on oil and gas”, adding: “We cannot and will not permit a new independent Scotland to be a petrol economy.”

With the SNP preparing its first budget as a minority government since 2010, he warned the Greens would demand concessions if it was to give its support.

Mr Harvie has previously refused to support the SNP budget.
He added: “The SNP has a standstill tax policy. There is nothing substantial, nothing re-distributive.

“Why argue for more powers if we are not going to use them? If we are serious about protecting public services the SNP must make moves to a progressive tax if they expect to see Greens support their budget.”