"I think a second independence referendum is inevitable. The question of course is not the inevitability, it is the timing," Salmond, a member of the British Parliament from the Scottish National Party (SNP), said in an interview with BBC.
Salmond argued the timescale of the vote lays "in the hands of" current SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon and said three issues at the heart of the party’s bid for greater autonomy drive up the vote.
"One is the refusal to deliver 'the vow,'" Salmond said, referring to the pledge made by three major UK parties ahead of Scotland’s first independence vote in September 2014. The ruling Conservatives, opposition Labour and former coalition Liberal Democrats had promised to further devolve Westminster powers to Scotland.
The second issue moving Scotland toward another referendum is its support for sustained membership in the European Union, Salmond continued. If the country was "dragged out on the votes of people in England," he argued, that would produce a "material change in circumstance."
"The third thing emerging comes out of the budget and the welfare bill. Instead of getting devo[lution] to the max, we are getting austerity to the max," Salmond stressed.
Media reports suggested that the SNP, which was behind the first failed independence bid, would propose holding another independence referendum in 2016.
