I AM struck by the apparent claim that there is not a mandate to call a second independence referendum, given that by itself the SNP does not command an overall majority. To initially highlight the scale of the SNP victory, the party achieved 47.7% of the constituency vote in these elections, the highest achieved by any party since Labour’s victory in the 1966 UK General Election, when it achieved 48% of the vote, including 49.8% in Scotland. The SNP now holds an amazing 85% of the constituencies in Scotland, smashing the 63% of seats won by Tony Blair in Labour’s 1997 landslide victory. Let us not forget, prime minister David Cameron enacted a referendum on Brexit with a paltry 36.1% of the vote and this was enacted by Boris Johnson with a mere 43.6% of the vote.