THE SNP’s Ian Blackford has insisted Scotland "will have the choice to become an independent country".
The party's Westminster leader was speaking as the SNP's 47 MPs gathered in Westminster for the first time since the general election.
Blackford said their win at the vote was a “watershed moment.”
He added: "We stood on a clear and unequivocal platform of rejecting Brexit and giving the people of Scotland a choice over their future – ensuring Scotland’s future is in Scotland’s hands.
"Having won 80% of the seats in Scotland, that mandate to hold a referendum on Scotland's future is indisputable and must be respected by all democrats.
"The Tories stood on a single pledge of blocking an independence referendum and they suffered a thumping defeat - losing more than half of their seats and falling 20-points behind in the vote.
"I am hugely grateful to the people of Scotland who have put their trust in the SNP. We will work every day to repay that trust and stand up for the whole of Scotland.”
Blackford said Labour’s spiral into “internal divisions and acrimony” left SNP as the “real and effective opposition”.
He added: "The Tories can rage against democracy, but have no doubt Scotland will have the choice to become an independent country and protect our place at the heart of Europe - so we can get on with building a better future as a fairer, greener, prosperous and equal country."
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