A SCOTTISH Labour MP has suggested he would stand down if the country backs independence in this month's referendum.
Losing an MP north of the Border would deal a blow to Ed Miliband's hopes of winning next year's general election.
But Thomas Docherty, the MP for Dunfermline & West Fife, blamed Alex Salmond as he predicted a Yes vote would lead to months of "nasty", "political bloodshed" between Edinburgh and Westminster - and suggested he would not be a part of it.
Mr Docherty, Labour's shadow leader of the House of Commons, criticised the First Minister's threat to walk away from UK national debt if London did not agree to a currency union with an independent Scotland - and accused the SNP leader making any potential negotiations more fraught with his stance on that and other issues.
Mr Docherty said that in the event of a Yes vote: "My initial standpoint - without having talked to my wife about this - is I don't envisage standing for Westminster in 2015 for what would be nine months of political bloodshed. I have no appetite for the negotiations, which are going to be horrible."
He predicted that any talks had been made more difficult by the First Minister's appearance in a televised debate with No leader Alistair Darling last month, in which he again threatened to renege on any share of national debt.
The comments will be seen as a blow to the First Minister's calls for a cross-party "Team Scotland" to come together to help hammer out the details of any separation.
Liberal Democrat Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael recently appeared to suggest he could stand down from the Coalition at Westminster in order to argue for the best deal for Scotland.
A spokesman for First Minister Alex Salmond: "We look forward to an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK having a warm relationship as a partnership of equals.
"Following a Yes vote, we will be bringing together Scotland's best talents to negotiate the best possible deal for Scotland."
Mr Docherty won his Fife seat in 2010 with a majority of 5,470, or 11.2 per cent.
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