THE SNP has called on pro-UK campaigners to distance themselves from claims Scotland was "extinguished" as a state by the 1707 Treaty of Union.
Legal advice published by the UK Government on Monday argued that Scotland was extinguished, in terms of international law, either by merger into either a new state or "enlarged and renamed England," in 1707.
SNP MSP Roderick Campbell said: "The anti-independence campaign is now asking people to vote No and endorse the position that Scotland was 'extinguished'.
"The Tory-led Government's inept leadership of the No campaign has shattered the claim that Scotland is an equal partner in the UK – which will only serve to boost support for an independent Scotland and a Yes vote." He spoke out after Scotland Office minister David Mundell endorsed the legal opinion in an interview.
An SNP spokeswoman added: "The question for everyone in the No campaign is whether they agree with the finding in yesterday's paper, as Tory Minister David Mundell does, that Scotland was 'extinguished' by the 1707 Union."
A Scottish Conservative spokesman dismissed Mr Campbell's remarks as a "smokescreen".
The verdict on Scotland's fate in 1707 was included in legal advice by professors James Crawford and Alan Boyle, who argued an independent Scotland would start life as a new state.
They said Scotland would have to apply for membership of the EU and a host of other international organisations from scratch.
Meanwhile, the pro-UK Better Together campaign called on the Scottish Government to publish its legal opinion on an independent Scotland's membership of the UK.
Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced last year the Scottish Government would seek legal advice on the issue.
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