THE SNP has accused David Cameron's Government of infighting that is jeopardising Scotland's place in the European Union.

The party said that Tory feuding on the issue was more of a threat to Scottish membership than independence.

The SNP has faced criticism over its admission earlier this month that Scotland would have to negotiate with the EU if it left the UK. But the party said that warnings from senior party figures that David Cameron had to offer a referendum on EU membership or face defections and a challenge to his leadership showed where the threat lay.

Yesterday, Conservative Europe minister David Lidington also expressed the desire for the UK to have a relationship with the EU that made Britons feel more "comfortable".

SNP MSP and member of Holyrood's European Committee, Clare Adamson, said: "The only real danger to Scotland's EU membership is the ideological determination of the Tories to drive a wedge between the UK and the rest of the EU.

"That would be disastrous for businesses and individuals in Scotland, and is something that can only be protected against with a Yes vote in 2014."

Tory MPs are keenly awaiting a keynote speech on the issue, which Mr Cameron is preparing to make in coming weeks.

Earlier this week, the top official in the EU, Herman von Rompuy, warned that Tory hopes of renegotiating the UK's relationship with Europe could destroy the EU.