Alex Salmond calls for second Scottish independence referendum once the 'humiliation' of Brexit is realised

'People are realising the full extent of the Brexit disaster more than they were a couple of months ago at the election'

Alex Salmond believes the appetite for Scottish independence will return once Brexit has fully played out (PA)

Former SNP leader Alex Salmond has said that Scotland should have a second independence referendum – but only after what he predicts will be the ‘humiliation’ of Brexit becomes apparent.

The former Scottish First Minister was speaking with his SNP colleague, the journalist John Nicolson, on Talk Radio. Both men lost their seats in the general election.

He said he thought the SNP had performed relatively poorly at the general election – losing a third of their seats – because the “timing was very bad” for the party.

He said Ms Sturgeon’s strategy of postponing calls for an independence referendum was “designed to come into fruition in two or three years time when Brexit played out, when the idea of Scotland having its own relationship [with the EU] will be extremely strong.”

He insisted that although the current polls do not reflect an increased desire for independence since the 2014 vote to remain in the union, the question must be revisited one the UK has left the European Union.

“Even now, I think, people are realising the full extent of the Brexit disaster more than they were a couple of months ago at the election.

“When Brexit has played out …and if you think that Brexit is going to be one almighty success then the independence cause on the back of the European issue will be on a sticky wicket,” he said.

But he referred to an article in the Financial Times, which suggested that Brexit has three possible outcomes – “abject humiliation, a big humiliation, or just humiliation”.

He said that once this had been fully realised, the people of Scotland will want to revisit the question of independence.

Mr Salmond said he is making the most of free time he has now he is no longer an MP – although he said he turned down the chance to appear on the ITV reality show, I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here.

But he is embracing the entertainment world as he prepares to appear in a show at the Edinburgh fringe festival, which he promised will feature “quite a bit of politics” as well as a different guest in each performance.

Donald Trump, who he has known for many years, is not scheduled to be one of the guests, but Mr Salmond said the American President will “feature” in the show.

“Trump is not stupid … I just think he has a vast range of lack of knowledge.

“He will adopt positions for the most stupid of reasons – last week, for example, he came out against Scottish independence because he said we would lose the British Open!

“For a start, it’s not the British Open, it’s just the Open, and secondly, it’s run from St Andrew’s last time I checked.”

And he refused to rule out standing for election again at some point.

“Let’s see how the land lies. We don’t know when the next election is going to be… you never quite know what political opportunities are around the corner.”