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Scottish independence: William Hague joins Scots-EU debate | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
Foreign Secretary William Hague has said an independent Scottish state may not be able to negotiate the same terms of EU membership as the UK. | |
Mr Hague is in Glasgow to unveil the latest UK government paper. | |
He told BBC Scotland, people "should be in no doubt" that if Scotland left the UK it would have to reapply for European Union membership. | |
First Minister Alex Salmond has argued Scotland's membership of the EU would be negotiated "from within". | |
He has stated that the terms of Scotland's membership would be negotiated during the period between a Yes vote in September this year and independence day in March 2016. | |
The first minister said that the EU would be keen to keep Scotland as a member and it would be open to discussions on matters such as the single currency. | |
Hold a referendum | |
Mr Hague told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that even if the European negotiations were "constructively-minded" it would still be a complicated process involving the agreement of all 28 EU member states. | |
The foreign secretary said Scotland would be obliged to join the Euro single currency, which the Scottish government had said it would not do. | |
He said Scotland would also need to sign the Schengen agreement on border controls, which is "incompatible" with the Common Travel Area plans put forward by the Scottish government. | |
Mr Hague further claimed that Scotland would lose out on cash from the rebate which the UK gets from the EU. | |
The Conservative minister said his own party's plans to hold a referendum on EU membership if it was to win next year's UK general election were not an immediate threat. | |
He said: "I think it is a more immediately, dramatically uncertain world if Scotland were to vote to separate itself from the UK this coming year because what we are trying to achieve by 2017 is a reformed EU that we can recommend the whole of the UK stays in. | |
"Scotland in effect is going to have two referendums on whether to leave the EU and one of them is in September. | |
"People should be in no doubt, if part of a member state leaves the EU it has to reapply for membership and that will be a process of uncertain length and unknown outcome in terms of the terms that are negotiated and probably great cost. It means paying more to get less from the EU." | |
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused the UK government of acting against Scotland's interests. | |
In a letter to Mr Hague, she wrote: "Regardless of the outcome of the referendum on September 18, people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will always be Scotland's closest friends and neighbours. | In a letter to Mr Hague, she wrote: "Regardless of the outcome of the referendum on September 18, people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will always be Scotland's closest friends and neighbours. |
"I also have no doubt that, in the event of a Yes vote, governments of an independent Scotland will work extremely closely with future Westminster governments. | "I also have no doubt that, in the event of a Yes vote, governments of an independent Scotland will work extremely closely with future Westminster governments. |
"In European, international, defence and a range of other matters, our interests will often coincide and we will be able to work together constructively." | "In European, international, defence and a range of other matters, our interests will often coincide and we will be able to work together constructively." |
She went on to accuse Conservative politicians of putting the UK's membership of the EU in doubt, "driven by a fear of UKIP which does not exist in Scotland". | She went on to accuse Conservative politicians of putting the UK's membership of the EU in doubt, "driven by a fear of UKIP which does not exist in Scotland". |
The deputy first minister also renewed her call for Prime Minister David Cameron to debate with Mr Salmond ahead of the referendum. | The deputy first minister also renewed her call for Prime Minister David Cameron to debate with Mr Salmond ahead of the referendum. |
"The prime minister has insisted he will not take part in a debate with the first minister because, he says, it is a matter for voters in Scotland and not him or his government," she wrote. | "The prime minister has insisted he will not take part in a debate with the first minister because, he says, it is a matter for voters in Scotland and not him or his government," she wrote. |
"This position is increasingly hard to sustain given the succession of Westminster ministers continuing to make day trips to Scotland to oppose independence." | "This position is increasingly hard to sustain given the succession of Westminster ministers continuing to make day trips to Scotland to oppose independence." |