Salmond says in-out EU vote risks Scots membership

ALEX Salmond says the biggest threat to Scotland staying in the European Union is David Cameron’s pledge to hold an in-out referendum on membership by 2017.

Alex Salmond said he was confident Scotland would be welcomed as an EU member. Picture: Andrew Cowan

The First Minister said he was confident that Scotland would be welcomed as an EU member if it voted on 18 September to leave the United Kingdom.

Salmond said the advice he had received indicated that Scotland would most likely negotiate membership of the 28-member bloc after a vote for independence. He said Scotland would not be expelled or have to re-apply.

“There is a threat to Scottish membership and that threat is an in-out referendum in 2017 that the current prime minister proposes to hold,” SNP leader Salmond told BBC Radio. “We don’t have the same agonised debate [about EU membership] that is taking place in England.”

Alex Salmond said he was confident Scotland would be welcomed as an EU member. Picture: Andrew Cowan

Cameron has promised to try to renegotiate Britain’s EU ties and to claw back a range of powers if re-elected next year and to then give Britons a referendum on whether to stay or remain inside the EU in 2017.

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