SNP MP Tommy Sheppard and the party's leader Humza Yousaf (Image: Getty)

       An SNP MP has admitted Scottish independence is "over" if his party loses the next election.

       Tommy Sheppard, who is MP for Edinburgh East, said that if the SNP lost the 2024 General Election "the debate on independence stops".

       He made the comments in an opinion piece for Scottish nationalist newspaper The National, which saw him slam the UK's first past the post system describing it as "corrupt" and adding that Sir Keir Starmer's Labour had compromised so much they "cannot achieve real change".

       He said independence offered "the chance not to have [Scotland's] ambition thwarted by another country’s political reality" but warned an election loss would end the chance of independence.

       Sheppard told The National: "Around half of the population believes that Scotland should be an independent country.

       READ MORE Humza Yousaf begs bus tycoon for help with SNP donations dwindling

       SNP MP Tommy Sheppard (Image: Getty)

       "The desire has not – and will not – go away. At some stage, we will vote to establish a new independent country – and the campaign to win that vote must be broad and diverse involving every party and organisation in the movement for national autonomy.

       "But that is not where we are now and that is not what we are voting for in this year’s General Election.

       "We need to be very clear with the electorate – this year’s vote is about whether the journey continues, whether we can create circumstances to move towards our independence. And with a corrupt first-past-the-post system, the only way to do that is to vote SNP.

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       "The point is we don’t have a choice. If the SNP lose the election in Scotland, the debate on independence stops. That is why we must put aside our differences and unite.

       "If we win, we will use every means to press that mandate against a British state under new management."

       It comes as SNP leader and Scottish first minister Humza Yousaf pleads for support, with donations dwindling.

       His latest attempts to procure funding saw him beg bus businessman Sir Brian Souter for financial help with donations drying up following a police probe into the party’s finances.

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