Alex Salmond has admitted he “did not think for a second” that the prime minister was serious about taking the UK out of the European Union.
The first minister made the remark about David Cameron at a launch event for the white paper on independence, promoting the argument for a Yes vote in September. His latest comments appeared to reflect a softening of his position on the issue.
He and other senior SNP figures have made repeated claims that the biggest threat to Scotland’s membership of the EU was the Tories. Mr Cameron has promised an in-out referendum in 2017 to renegotiate the terms of Britain’s EU membership.
Mr Salmond said: “I do not actually think for a second the prime minister intends to take the UK out of the European Union but he is certainly not in control of that debate and that is a possible outcome of the next few years. But what is certain is that the in-out debate is going to absorb a huge amount of political time and discussion.”
Deputy Conservative leader Jackson Carlaw said Mr Salmond had “let the cat out of the bag” by admitting the EU claim was “nonsense”.
Mr Carlaw said: “Hardly a day goes by when the SNP or the Yes Scotland campaign do not accuse everyone and anyone of scaremongering about Scotland’s future.
“But for them, no scare story proves more popular than the one about the UK prime minister wishing to take us out of the EU.
“Now the cat is out of the bag, and Alex Salmond has unusually admitted that this SNP assertion is a nonsense.
“David Cameron is determined to improve the deal both Scotland and the UK gets from Europe, and will allow the people to make a decision in 2017.”
SNP government claims that an independent Scotland could negotiate entry from within the EU as it is, at present, part of the UK, have been disputed by several key figures.
European Council president Herman van Rompuy said if any part of a member state becomes independent, it would no longer be part of the EU and would have to reapply.