MINISTERS are facing pressure to publish their legal advice on an independent Scotland's membership of the European Union.
Culture Secretary Fiona Hyslop revealed during a television interview that the Government had received formal advice from the Lord Advocate.
But, as ministers warned when they commissioned the advice last October, she confirmed it wouldn't be made public.
Yesterday, Labour and the Conservatives urged the Government to review the decision.
Scottish Labour's Patricia Ferguson said: "Alex Salmond has previously told us that he had legal advice when he didn't. The only way Scots will believe what we've been told is for the legal advice to be published."
It emerged yesterday that the legal advice was received on May 3.
Its existence was first revealed by Ms Hyslop in a BBC interview on Wednesday night. The Lord Advocate must give permission for the existence of formal advice to made public.
Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson said: "This is yet another example of the SNP's refusal to set out the facts of what would happen if Scotland left the UK."
Earlier, Ms Davidson was ridiculed by Alex Salmond for challenging him on the EU at First Minister's Questions. She demanded to know the cost of legal action last year designed to keep the absence of formal legal advice on EU membership out of the public domain.
Mr Salmond sidestepped the question but praised her "bravado" for raising the issue of the EU after Tories at Westminster rebelled against their own Government to demand a referendum on UK membership.
The SNP dropped claims that an independent Scotland would automatically be a member of the EU and acknowledged that negotiations would be required on key issues. The U-turn came last October, when Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced she was seeking legal advice.
The Scottish Government said: "The content of legal advice is confidential. By convention, successive Scottish and UK governments do not disclose the content of Law Officers' advice.
"An independent Scotland's continued membership of the EU will be set out in due course in the White Paper which, as the Deputy First Minister made clear in October, will be fully consistent with our legal advice."
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