KEITH Brown says the SNP government will hold a second independence referendum as soon as it’s "safe" to do so.

The SNP depute leader set out his party's plan after it secured 64 seats in a thumping Holyrood election victory.

He was asked on Sophy Ridge on Sky about holding indyref2 as the country recovers from the pandemic.

“We will know when it’s over, we will know when it’s safe to have that full-blooded campaign that I’ve mentioned, but until that happens our concentration has to be focused on the pandemic, making sure that we drive down the coronavirus and look after the public health of the people in Scotland," Brown said.

The First Minister said earlier that she "wouldn't rule out" bringing forward a referendum to spring next year. 

It came as Clive Dix, the outgoing interim leader of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, said there won't be any Covid-19 circulating in the UK by August.

READ MORENicola Sturgeon 'wouldn't rule out' bringing indyref2 forward by spring 2022

When Brown was asked whether he can guarantee a referendum by the end of 2024, he explained: “The only caveat to that of course would be the pandemic, but yes that’s our intention, to have that referendum, I’ve said as soon as possible.”

He added: “We’re making fantastic progress with the pandemic and the fight against coronavirus, as you can see in the figures now, but that threat is still there and there’s also the threat of new variants of the virus, so nobody can put time limits on that.

“At the earliest possible opportunity when it’s safe to do so we will move to have that referendum, the one that Scotland has just voted for in massive numbers.”

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Nicola Sturgeon was quizzed about her ambitions for a second referendum by Andrew Marr. 

Asked about the prospect of bringing it forward to 2022 if the pandemic was over, she replied: “I wouldn’t rule that out, equally I’m not sitting here right now and saying that that is the timescale.

The National: Sturgeon and Brown united front on independence referendum.Sturgeon and Brown united front on independence referendum.

“The people of Scotland re-elected me as First Minister with the first task of continuing to see us through the pandemic, getting us into recovery.

"Then of course there’s the question of what kind of recovery do we want, what kind of country are we rebuilding to and that comes in to sharp focus, where do decisions lie?

“I’m not sure the recovery that Boris Johnson envisages is one that a majority of people in Scotland would support."