LONDON (Reuters) - Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday that there was a stronger mandate for a Scottish independence referendum than there ever was for Britain's 2016 vote on whether to leave the EU.

"There is a stronger mandate for an independence referendum in the Scottish parliament than there ever was for a Brexit referendum in the UK Parliament," Sturgeon said.

"A majority of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament support a referendum so if we had a democracy then that should be respected," she added

(Reporting by Farouq Suleiman; editing by William James)