ALEX Salmond has been set alongside Nigel Farage as rivals in "blame game" politics, which can only hold Scotland back, according to Labour's Douglas Alexander.

The Shadow Foreign Secretary also used a speech to the Scottish CBI in Edinburgh to claim there was "granite-like resistance" among Scots to independence.

Mr Alexander argued any debate about Britain's place in Europe could not and should not be separated from a wider debate about Scotland's place in Britain.

"Indeed for me," the Paisley and Renfrewshire South MP told Scotland's captains of industry, "the rationale for European membership is underpinned by my longstanding commitment to Scotland's place within the UK."

He insisted the two propositions were mutually enforcing and not contradictory, underlining how the nations of the UK are stronger together than apart.

He accused both the SNP and Ukip of trying to exploit people's feelings of "stop the world I want to get off" as they faced a prolonged period of economic difficulty.

"But national recovery only comes with international partnership and recovery. We see that in trade, in banking, in how we will tackle tax avoidance.

"The strong signs are most Scots get that. The polls, so strongly in favour of Scotland remaining in the UK, would certainly suggest that. And this granite-like resistance to embracing separation has led the current First Minister to say this week that the independence debate is a 'phoney war'.

This was a reference to Mr Salmond's statement this week that the real independence campaign had yet to begin. He also pointed out how he went into the last Holyrood election 20 points behind and ended up 15 points ahead. "The real game hasn't even started. We are just clearing the ground," Mr Salmond asserted.

But Mr Alexander derided Mr Salmond's stance on a number of issues, saying: "Once a separate Scotland's entry to the EU was 'automatic' according to him, now it's not. Once he had legal advice on joining the EU, then he hadn't. Once the pound was a millstone around Scotland's neck, now it is his currency of choice, even if – after 80 years – the Nationalists still can't explain quite how that would work."

l Mr Farage has admitted to a mistake in setting up an offshore trust fund on the Isle of Man.