A second independence referendum is "unlikely" to occur inside Nicola Sturgeon's most popular time-frame, a former SNP senior employees member stated.
Kevin Pringle additionally warned that, if a vote on leaving the UK is held earlier than the tip of 2023, the SNP's objective of accelerating help for independence could also be "undermined".
The First Minister has repeatedly stated her intention is to carry indyref2 by the halfway level on this Holyrood time period - though the UK Authorities stays hostile to such plans.
Pringle, who labored as a particular adviser to Alex Salmond when he was first minister and likewise labored for the Sure Scotland pro-independence marketing campaign, stated it's "unlikely" there shall be a recent vote on the difficulty by the tip of subsequent yr "given the hurdles to be overcome".
Writing within the Sunday Instances, he stated: "It's unwise to make any particular predictions in such unstable occasions, however it appears cheap to say out loud that an independence referendum is unlikely to happen by the tip of subsequent yr, given the hurdles to be overcome and in depth preparations required.
"I do not suppose the struggle in Ukraine has modified this, within the sense that it was no extra probably earlier than the Russian invasion and all of the destruction and instability being wreaked."
"A referendum is a method to an finish, nothing extra. If the Scottish authorities pursues it inside a good 2023 timescale that persons are uncomfortable with, even assuming it would not occur then, the duty of constructing help for independence itself could also be undermined."
Pringle stated the "mandate" SNP and Inexperienced MSPs - who additionally help the holding of a second referendum - have been elected on in final Might's Holyrood elections was to carry a referendum within the present five-year Scottish Parliament time period.
With 4 years nonetheless to go, he added: "That gives time sufficient to get it proper."
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