THE democratic principle of a second independence referendum is more important than its timing, Patrick Harvie has said.
The co-leader of the Scottish Greens said he would be "happy" if another vote took place before the end of 2023, as Nicola Sturgeon wants.
But he insisted the principle is "more important than the precise timing of when the referendum happens".
Mr Harvie and his co-leader Lorna Slater recently joined the Scottish Government as ministers as part of a cooperation agreement with the SNP.
He said the last few weeks had been "extraordinary" and "challenging", adding: "There is a pace of work that is way beyond what I had as an MSP."
Speaking to The Herald on the eve of the Scottish Greens' party conference in Edinburgh, he added: "But it's also incredibly exciting.
"It's a chance, instead of making speeches about demanding more, it's a chance to be the people who challenge ourselves to deliver more."
Nicola Sturgeon has said she wants to hold a referendum in the first half of this parliamentary term, Covid permitting.
Asked if the Greens were on the same page, Mr Harvie said: "The Greens and the SNP both committed to a referendum in this session of the Scottish Parliament in our manifestos.
"The SNP's manifesto said they would like it to be in the first half of the parliament.
"If that timescale can be achieved, I'll be happy about that.
"The most important thing is the democratic principle that this is a decision for the people of Scotland to make.
"I think people right across Scotland, whichever way they voted last time, recognise that this is a question that remains unresolved, particularly in the light of Brexit and in the light of a UK Government whose response to the biggest fuel price spike we've seen in many, many years is to impose the biggest welfare cut since the creation of the welfare state.
"These are perverse decisions that are going to harm so many people throughout the UK but including in Scotland, and there's so little that Scotland is able to do to protect itself from those vindictive decisions.
"So the democratic choice has to be with the people of Scotland and that principle, I think, is more important than the precise timing of when the referendum happens."
Asked how likely he thought a referendum was, Mr Harvie said: "I'm quite sure that another referendum is coming and I'm very confident that we can make a case that will convince a clear majority of people in Scotland that independence is the best course for our country.
"As I say, I'm much more interested in getting into the substance of that debate than I am about the precise timing."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel