Mr Rumbles’ shock intervention quickly saw the SNP’s argument unravel and provoked an awkward response from the First Minister.
The Liberal Democrat MSP said: “The First Minister is fond of talking about democratic mandates.
“But does she not realise 55 percent of Scottish voters voted for candidates opposed to another independence referendum?
“You want to listen to the Scottish voters.”
This remarked prompted a huge uproar in the chamber, leading to loud boos from SNP Members of Scottish Parliament.
The chair of the session hit out at the SNP members for disrupting Mr Rumbles, adding: “Let’s hear the question!”
Mr Rumbles then said: “You want to listen to the Scottish voters and that level of opposition has not changed one iota since 2014.”
Ms Sturgeon struggled to respond to the often overlooked election fact.
She deflected and claimed that Mr Rumbles should put his claim to a test and give Scottish voters a referendum.
The SNP leader added: “Rumbles might not have intended this but he just made a case for another referendum! So we can put that to the test.
“We stood on a mandate to offer an independence referendum. We scored a higher percentage of the vote than the Tories did nationwide, but they claim they have a mandate for their Brexit position."
This comes as Ms Sturgeon catipulated to opposition MSPs' demand for a full review of Scotland's education system only hours after her Education Minister refused to concede one.
The First Minister said her administration would abide by the Scottish Parliament's vote for a comprehensive investigation, which was opposed by SNP MSPs.
The humiliating climbdown took place after Ms Sturgeon was challenged repeatedly on education standards in Scotland.
Pupils in the nation were found to have performed worse than peers across the world in both science and maths.
https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1230381/Nicola-Sturgeon-SNP-independence-mandate-referendum-Holyrood-latest-news
