Alister Jack has rejected Nicola Sturgeon's proposal to use the next general election as a "de facto referendum" on Scottish independence.
The Scottish Secretary said an election cannot be used to measure support or opposition on one question because people do not "vote on one specific issue in a manifesto".
Asked if an "electoral contest" could be used to give an indication on support for independence, Mr Jack told the Scottish Affairs Select Committee this afternoon: "No, because I don't believe that people vote on one specific issue in a manifesto and I also, if you are talking about the de facto referendum that the First Minister is proposing at a general election, I don't see there being a mandate for something, you can't have a mandate for something that we now know you legally do not have any power over."
Mr Jack compared a pledge to deliver independence to a pledge to remove the UK's Trident nuclear weapons from Scottish territory.
He said: "The Scottish Government can no more - although they put it in every manifesto that they want to remove Trident from Faslane - they no more have the power to take away our nuclear deterrent than they do to break up the United Kingdom and that is very clear and the justices agree with me on that."
The Supreme Court ruled last week that the Scottish Parliament does not have the power to hold a second referendum without the permission of the UK Government. Ms Sturgeon responded to the ruling by vowing to use the next general election as a "de facto referendum" on independence.
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