A row erupted yesterday after a former Tory Scottish secretary suggested that a vote for independence would “dishonour” the country’s war dead.
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson moved to distance herself from the remarks made by Lord Lang in a House of Lords debate.
The peer, who was Scottish secretary from 1990 to 1995, said: “Must they now, both Scotland and England, disavow that shared history?
“Would that not dishonour the sacrifices, made in common cause, of those who died for the United Kingdom, a nation now to be cut in two if the present generation of Scottish nationalists have their way?”
The remarks were branded “ill-judged and offensive” by the SNP last night, and overshadowed the debate in the Lords.
First Minister Alex Salmond highlighted the comments at Holyrood. Ms Davidson said: “Lord Lang must speak for himself.
“I deplore all intemperate language in this hugely important constitutional debate, whatever the source.”
But Lord Lang was backed by another former Scottish secretary, Labour’s Baroness Liddell, who was in the post from 2001 to 2003.
During the Lords debate, she said: “It is a sign of the contempt with which those of us who believe in the United Kingdom as a family are treated that such attacks are made on the noble lord, Lord Lang.” Angus MacNeil, SNP MP for the Western Isles, said: “Lord Lang took the No campaign to a new low when he claimed that a Yes vote in the referendum would dishonour those who died in war. And just as shocking was that Labour’s Baroness Liddell felt his remarks were perfectly in order.”
The SNP has no representation in the Lords.