FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has hinted that there could be an update on the timetable for a second Scottish independence referendum in the next few days.

She was questioned by Scottish Greens co-convener Patrick Harvie at First Minister's Questions about an escape from the Brexit mess.

Harvie asked: "Scotland needs the freedom to take a different direction, to leave behind this chaos and find our own way out of the crisis. It's why we need our independence.

"The First Minister told us that she would say something about her preferred timing within weeks. That was two months ago. So can I ask again, when?"

Sturgeon had told journalists during a visit to Westminster in mid-January that she would offer an update on indyref2 timing "within weeks".

Answering in Holyrood today, she said it was worth waiting "for the next few days", but that an update could come after that.

The First Minister said: "On the issue of independence, the frustration people feel right now at our country, Scotland's future, being determined by the DUP and a cabal of right-wing Tories is understandable, and I absolutely share it.

"I said I'd wait until the end of this phase of the Brexit negotiations before setting out my views on the way forward for Scotland.

"Having done so this long, I think it is reasonable to wait to see what clarity emerges in the next few days, even if I suspect it will just be clarity that there will be no clarity – and then I will set out my views on the path forward.

"But nobody can be in any doubt that change is needed. The last three years have shown that the status quo is broken. It cannot protect Scotland from the folly of Brexit and all that follows that.

"Even the most ardent Unionist must see that the way we are governed now by Westminster is broken. The question is how do we fix that for the future, and there's no doubt in my mind that letting people in Scotland choose an independent future is the best way to do that."