West Scotland MSP Jamie Greene has welcomed the Scottish Government’s decision to pause talks on a second independence referendum.

And the Conservative MSP said “there is no room for party politics” amid the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter to the UK Government, Constitution Secretary Mike Russell MSP, said that the Scottish Government “has paused work on preparing for an independence referendum” to focus on the Covid-19 crisis and therefore a “referendum will not take place this year”.

The decision has been welcomed by all parties in the Scottish Parliament.

Mr Green said: “I welcome

the decision from the First Minister that talks over IndyRef2 are off.

“The recent outbreak of Covid-19 is the biggest peacetime challenge that Scotland and the United Kingdom have ever faced and deserves every single minute of the attention of all politicians.

“Right now there is no room for party politics and the public will be less than forgiving with those who stoke constitutional grievance or make cheap political points out of this terrible situation.”