Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the success enjoyed by Team GB at the Olympics proves what Scotland can achieve as part of the United Kingdom.
Athletes from Great Britain and Northern Ireland won 65 medals in London, finishing third in the overall table behind the United States of America and China.
Scottish athletes excelled throughout the two weeks of competition, winning 13 medals.
Amongst them was Edinburgh-born cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, who became the UK’s most successful ever Olympian after winning his sixth gold medal, and Dunblane tennis star Andy Murray who won gold after defeating Roger Federer.
Mr Brown, the MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, said the results the team achieved from the pooled resources of all of the nations and regions of the UK in the Olympics also applied to other aspects of British life such as healthcare or defence.
The Labour politician came out fighting in defence of the United Kingdom against the SNP's plans for Scottish independence during a lecture at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.
He said: "Chris Hoy has made the point for me, I don't have to make it for myself.
"When we pull and share resources for the common good, it's often the case that the benefit is far greater than would have occurred if we had just summed up and added up the parts."
He added: "The Olympics is pretty clear to us that by the pooling of resources in, say, cycling we managed to do what if you just divided the money and put a tenth to Scotland and a tenth to Yorkshire and so on you could not have achieved the same results."
To leave a comment, please sign in.