Scottish Westminster ministers ruled out of talks on terms

Published on 12/02/2013 00:00

The role of UK government ministers from Scotland in negotiations with the Scottish Government in the event of a Yes vote has been one of the great unknowns since the SNP’s election victory in 2011.

The UK government’s analysis states that after independence representatives of the UK government would enter negotiations on the terms “as representatives of the continuing state of the UK”.

However, Mr Moore said this would not apply to Scottish MPs in the UK government, such as himself, his junior minister David Mundell, or Advocate General for Scotland Lord Wallace, who were also in attendance at the launch of the paper.

Mr Moore said: “I have made very clear personally that were Scotland to vote for independence then, as Scots, we would be looking for the best deal for Scotland. I think the best deal for Scotland is that we stay in the UK, and therefore I will be arguing very strongly for that in the next 18 months.”