DOUGLAS Ross has said he will boycott an independence referendum that is held without consent from Westminster.

The Scottish Tory leader was being interviewed by Channel 4 when he insisted that he would have “nothing to do with” a “wildcat referendum” and that he would urge people to boycott it.

Ross said: “If Nicola Sturgeon were to be so reckless and irresponsible to go ahead with an illegal wildcat referendum then I wouldn’t support it and I would urge people to boycott it.”

His comments come after Nicola Sturgeon published the first paper in her vision for an independent Scotland and confirmed the launch of a new Yes campaign in preparation for a vote she intends to hold before the end of next year.

Sturgeon has also confirmed that a referendum will be held with or without a section 30 order.

When asked if he thought a pro-union campaign would win in an upcoming referendum, Ross said that based on current polling data, it would.

This prompted a tongue-in-cheek response from the interviewer as he joked that Ross was the “first politician in history that doesn’t want to hold a vote that you think you’d win”.

READ MORE: Inside the launch of Nicola Sturgeon's first indyref2 white paper: What it was like at Bute House

Ross was later probed on the SNP’s democratic mandate to hold another independence referendum after he said the people of Scotland were more interested in issues other than indyref2.

The interviewer said: “Not, presumably, the people who continue to vote for the SNP in large numbers when they keep winning elections and you keep losing.”

The exchange prompted a fierce response on Twitter, with one user saying: “its because we want to address unemployment, education, etc and we know we can do a better job for ourselves than the current situation of asking Wastemonster if we "can have some more please?" #indyref2 YES!”