Votes for independence and EU must be separated, says Alex Neil

He said: “A Yes vote in an independence referendum cannot be interpreted as a dual mandate for both independence and for an independent Scotland to join the EU.

"The two issues have to be decoupled and the explicit approval of the Scottish people has to be sought before Scotland applies to rejoin the EU as an independent state.”

The former Health Secretary also said he being ruled by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker would be as bad as being ruled by Theresa May.

"Austerity from London and austerity from Brussels are in my view equally damaging not just to Scotland but to the rest of the UK, and indeed to the rest of Europe," he added.

Mr Neil said there would be “major implications” if Scotland joined the EU Customs Union if the rest of the UK was outside it, a situation which would give rise to border controls.

The First Minister last week announced she wanted a referendum by spring 2019 so people could judge whether to stay in the UK under Brexit or try for independence.

MSPs yesterday debated whether to ask Westminster for referendum powers, before the sitting was suspended because of the terror attack on Westminster.

In a rare public breach of SNP unity, Mr Neil said a referendum should be postponed until post-Brexit trade deals were nailed down, a process which could take many more years.

He said there was still a need to persuade people a referendum was necessary.

“Getting broad acceptance of the need for and the timing of a second referendum by the time it is triggered, in my view, will assist our chances of winning it.”

He went on: “Whether we do it as part of this referendum or do it once we’re independent we have to ask the Scottish people two questions because it’s their choice, their decision.

“One is, Do you want Scotland to be independent Yes or No? and the other at some stage has to be, Do you want an independent Scotland to join the European Union Yes or No?

“That’s a fair position for everybody because it gives the people the decision on the EU membership issue as well as on the issue of independence.”

Earlier, External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop said Brexit was a "fundamental change" in circumstances since the vote of 2014.

She said: "The next two years are hugely important for Scotland, they will determine the kind of country we are to become. In those changed circumstances, and in that different context, surely it must be for the people of Scotland to decide their future."

Tory Maurice Golden accused the SNP of promoting "increasingly nasty nationalism" by pitting the debate as "Scotland versus the Tories".

He said: “It says to 500,000 Scots who voted Conservative at the last election that you are not Scottish and you don't have a place in the SNP's Scotland.

"Well let me tell the SNP this, I am Scottish and you don't speak for me.

"I urge the SNP to moderate their tone and do their best to avoid the vile slurs, hatred and bully-boy tactics of the last independence campaign.”

Labour MSP Iain Gray said Scots were “caught between two intransigent, belligerent and inept governments", who were not listening to each other or the voters.

He said: “This is not a two-day debate, it has raged and ravaged this country for the 3,500 days of ten long years and in that time our schools have haemorrhaged teachers, child poverty has soared, literacy and numeracy has plummeted, our NHS has reached breaking point, our economy has stalled.

"The First Minister says the people's voice must be heard, well, she has conversed with them, consulted them and asked them a once-in-a-lifetime question. They gave their answer and it was No."

The motion to ask Westminster for referendum powers is expected to pass when MSPs resume the debate, with the pro-independence Greens backing the SNP.

Mrs May has said she will refuse the request, arguing “now is not the time” given the UK Government’s focus on two years of Brexit negotiations.