Reform MSPs have walked out of the Holyrood chamber after the party failed to get a debate on Scottish independence cancelled.

With First Minister and SNP leader John Swinney having called a debate on Scotland’s right to decide, Malcolm Offord, the leader of Reform UK north of the border, insisted the issue of the constitution is a reserved matter and should not be discussed.

When his appeals to Presiding Officer Kenneth Gibson failed, Lord Offord branded the debate a “farce” and led his MSPs in a walkout.

Mr Gibson later branded that “a gross discourtesy to all members”.

But Lord Offord insisted: “This debate is not just a farce, it is an insult to the Scottish electorate who expect their politicians to deal with serious issues in their communities.”

Lord Offord argued that Scots want to see MSPs dealing with “shocking” homelessness figures released earlier on Tuesday, the nation’s public finances or drug deaths – with a further rise in these expected to be announced on Wednesday.

“These are the serious matters of Government,” the Reform MSP said.

“In contrast this debate is ill-judged, self-serving and wholly inappropriate.

“Reform won’t engage further in these pointless proceedings. We didn’t come into the Parliament to waste our time on vanity projects, and therefore I withdraw my amendment and we will exit from the chamber.”

It came as MSPs debated from Mr Swinney which declared: “Scotland is a nation that has a right to decide its own future.”

This was passed by 84 votes to 18 – despite Prime Minister Andy Burnham having recently made clear another referendum is “off limits”.

The Prime Minister however had to pull back from comments he made in the Commons chamber, which appeared to suggest a second ballot on independence could be possible if Scots support one.

Mr Swinney however was adamant that Mr Burham’s opposition to another referendum “cannot hold”.

The SNP leader added: “My party believes it is for the people of Scotland to decide when there is an independence referendum.”

Saying that Scotland needs the “fresh start” of independence, he told MSPs the “fundamental right to decide our nation’s future remains”.

Referring back to the 2014 referendum – where 55% of voters backed staying in the UK – Mr Swinney said: “Just because a right has been exercised once does not mean it can never be exercised again.

“If the people of Scotland themselves want the opportunity to ask the question again, who has the right to stop them?

“Scotland is a nation and its people have the right to decide their future.

“The UK is a voluntary union, which means its nations can stay part of it or they can choose their independence.

“These two things were once accepted right across the political spectrum in Scotland.”

His comments were echoed by Scottish Green co-leader Ross Greer, who insisted: “Our journey of self determination, our journey of national democracy, didn’t end in 2014. Democracy isn’t a one-off event.”

He added: “The public are not bound by a decision made in 2014 any more than this Parliament is bound by its predecessors.”

But new Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra said the Parliament’s priority should be “getting back on track” with targets for tackling child poverty.

And an amendment from him called on Holyrood to reaffirm its commitment to child poverty targets – including the ambition to cut the number of youngsters living in relative poverty to less than 10% by 2030.

Mr Marra said it was “disappointing, but not surprising the SNP has a different priority” to this.

His comments came as he insisted Scotland “can be a fairer and stronger nation without being a separate state”.

He added: “I don’t believe we have to risk our currency, our defence, our markets and our budgets to deliver a more equal and just Scotland.”

Scottish Tory leader Russell Findlay meanwhile demanded Mr Swinney and the SNP “get over” the result of the 2014 referendum and “move on”.

Mr Findlay added: “The SNP say that Scotland should decide. We did decide, more than two million Scots said no, and thank goodness for that.”

His message to the SNP was that “you can’t agree to a once in a generation referendum and then have a neverending hissy fit over the result.”

Hitting out at the First Minister after the recent row over his air fares to the World Cup in the US this summer, the Tory blasted: “John Swinney doesn’t like anything that is British – apart of course from his British Airways business class flights.”