Henry McLeish says First Minister did not mislead voters on EU advice

Former First Minister Henry McLeish says Alex Salmond has not misled voters over taking legal advice on an independent Scotland joining the EU.

Speaking after Labour leader Johann Lamont demanded a judicial inquiry into the current First Minister's stance on taking advice on the European Union, Mr McLeish said that he "didn't think he'd misled".

Ms Lamont's call at Holyrood on Tuesday came one week after Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed that taxpayers' cash was spent to keep the public from knowing that no "specific" legal advice had been taken in the first place.

But, asked if Mr Salmond had misled voters over the legal advice taken the former Labour leader told Scotland Tonight: "I don't think he's misled. I think it's easy to sit apart from the big decisions that have to be made in government. But he certainly hasn't handled the situation well.

"When we are in politics, when I was in active politics, you tend to try and blur the issues.

"Being out of politics, there's no reason why the SNP should say: 'Look, of course we can get into NATO — there'll be difficulties, there'll be discussions. Of course, we can get into the European Union — there'll be difficulties and discussions. Of course, we can get into a currency union, a Sterling union, with the United Kingdom.'

"But you've got to own up to the fact it won't happen automatically. So what I think we do need is a bit more forthrightness, a bit more ability to take the public seriously.

"So I don't think we should talk about 'misleading' — but, on the other hand, it wasn't a good week for the SNP, and it certainly wasn't a good week for Alex Salmond."

Quizzed by presenter John MacKay about Ms Lamont's call for a judicial inquiry into the First Minister, Mr McLeish said: "She's the leader of the Labour Party in Scotland and Johann has the right to ask for anything she wishes.

"I think our energy, our focus, could be used in better ways because at the end of the day this is unlikely to happen, it is looking at an issue from extremes, and I think there are far more important areas where Labour could win many converts from the public and score many political goals. I don't think this is one of them.

"This will be another issue which will disappear quite soon, and we'll be on to the 'hurly-burly' of parliamentary politics, which is absolutely the right thing to do."

Mr Salmond was accused of being a "barefaced liar" as opposition MSPs insisted that the SNP leader gave the impression in a television interview that he had sought legal advice on whether Scotland would automatically remain in the EU after a Yes vote in 2014.

The SNP insists that Scotland will automatically be accepted into the EU, while opponents say it would have to reapply and lose the UK's existing rights and opt-outs. There is no precedent in the EU for what would happen if part of a member state left to form a new independent country, and no definitive legal position exists.

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