ALEX Salmond has said he would not have held Scotland's vote on independence in 2014 if he had known Boris Johnson would become Prime Minister and that the UK would be facing the prospect of a hard Brexit.

The former First Minister said he would have delayed the vote, suggesting this would have resulted in at least 60% of people in Scotland backing independence.

Salmond spoke out on the fifth anniversary of the independence referendum, when Scots voted by 55% to 45% to stay in the UK.

Within hours of the result being confirmed, Mr Salmond announced he was stepping down as both SNP leader and First Minister.

Marking the anniversary of the referendum, he said that "in reality" the 2014 vote was needed for Scotland to "experience the fundamental shift of opinion".

As a result, he said the focus should be "on the opportunity still to come" rather than "what might have been".

In a series of tweets, Salmond said: "If I had but known 5 years ago that @BorisJohnson would become Prime Minister and Britain would be poised on the brink of a hard #Brexit then I would have delayed the Scottish referendum and now looked forward to a 60% plus Yes vote.

"In reality, it is probably the case that #Scotland had to experience the fundamental shift of opinion in our first referendum before acting decisively to seize the day next time around.

"Therefore on this fifth anniversary we should focus not on what might have been but on the opportunity still to come."