SERIOUS gaps exist in the Scottish Government's foreign policy proposals for an independent Scotland, MPs insist today.

The Commons Foreign Affairs Committee accuses First Minister Alex Salmond and his SNP ministers of presenting assertions as facts on key issues such as EU membership in a report.

And in a double attack on Scottish Government policy, a senior UK ministerial source poured cold water on the SNP's 18-month timetable for an independent Scotland to become a member of the EU, claiming it was simply impractical because of the "Pandora's Box" of vested interests Scotland's application would open up across Europe.

The committee criticises the SNP administration for its lack of detail on independent Scotland's foreign and diplomatic representation such as embassies and consulates. In a report, the MPs say Scottish voters have the right to the "full facts and not just aspirational policies" before they cast their vote next year. "So far, these facts have not been presented by the Scottish Government," the committee insists.

It accepts an independent Scotland might be able to fast-track its membership but stresses this does not mean such a process would be "straightforward or automatic".

The report highlights how the MPs are "perplexed" that the Scottish Government is strenuously advocating legal positions on, say, EU membership "without the benefit of official legal advice from its law officers".

On Nato, the committee says an independent Scotland could "expect to face robust negotiations and would not necessarily be in a position to unilaterally shape its membership terms" in line with its pledge to rid Scotland of nuclear weapons.

One source close to the committee stressed how during its travels across Europe, concerns about an independent Scotland's bid for EU membership were raised by every single government, including Germany's.

"It's full of holes from top to bottom," declared the source. "The Scottish people have a right to the full facts from the Scottish Government on what independence would mean for its foreign policy and the full facts are not present."

Meanwhile, the senior UK Government figure cast serious doubt on whether or not an independent Scotland could negotiate EU membership by March 2016, as Edinburgh intends, given all the other negotiations, such as the key ones with the UK Government, that would be going on simultaneously.

Pointing out anindependent Scotland could only get agreement with the unanimous support of all the other 27 member states, he also warned that some would use the application to try to reopen and improve their own terms of membership.