FORMER Labour First Minister Henry McLeish said he was inching towards considering voting Yes in the independence referendum next year.

In a video posted on YouTube of a talk at Edinburgh Central Library, he said: "I'm often asked how will I vote? If I'm being honest, today I would vote against independence but my views are changing.

"I'm being quite honest with you ... I'm not sure what the Union stands for."

He added: "The problem is the Unionist parties are not in my view doing a lot to excite people about changing the Union, making it more relevant for the 21st century. So that's the issue for me that may shift me from where I am to where I might be in 2014."

Mr McLeish, devolution minister in the 1997 Labour Government, was happy to transfer from Westminster to Holyrood and the SNP has tried to woo him politically.

A spokesman for the Yes campaign said last night: "These are very welcome and open-minded comments by the former first minister. They underline that there is everything to play for in the referendum."