"That vote [on independence] will have to take place before the end of March 2019," Salmond also said, as quoted by the newspaper.
According to the newspaper, the former first minister said that UK Prime Minister Theresa May would not be able to deny Scotland this referendum if Holyrood voted in its favor, and any attempt to delay the vote until after Brexit could lead to a stronger support for independence.
"[Incumbent First Minister] Nicola Sturgeon will fight a very modern campaign. She’s learned a lot of lessons from 2014," Salmond, who led an unsuccessful pro-independence campaign in the run-up to the independence referendum in 2014, said.
The former first minister reportedly said that independent Scotland could have the same flexible border with the rest of the United Kingdom as May promised for Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Salmond also argued that Scotland would experience growth after independence because of autonomous policy, increase in productivity and immigration influx.
A Wednesday ScotCen's Scottish Social Attitudes survey showed that while the support for the independence was on the upswing, Scotland's skepticism toward the European Union was at its highest point in 17 years, with 67 percent of Scots having doubts about the bloc.
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