Tory MSP claims Scotland needs Britain

David Mundell made the remarks ahead of a visit to the Far East by Scotland ruling party’s finance secretary John Swiney which is aimed at promoting trade.

Mundell further claimed that Scottish ministers will lose the ‘possibility’ of meeting their counterparts in foreign visits if Scotland ever becomes independent from Britain as it is London which is “opening doors” for Scotland.

“It is not possible for the Scottish Government to orchestrate a visit without the help of the UK government. David Cameron has just been in Japan. The idea that John Swinney would make a greater impact than David Cameron is preposterous,” Mundell said.

“It just isn’t realistic to think that Scotland could do better if it was on its own… You are getting to promote Scotland, but on the back of the global links that the British government has and the British government’s ability to open doors for Scotland,” he added.

Mundell’s remarks come as the ruling Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP) is pushing for independence after literally expelling the Conservative party from the Scottish political landscape, despite the Conservatives leading British general elections in 2010.

His comments drew an angry reaction from Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond’s office where a spokesman said Mundell’s tirade on a Scottish government trade mission is “extremely ill-advised and ill-informed.”

“This narrow, partisan attack on a Scottish Government initiative to boost jobs in Scotland – at a time when Mr Mundell’s government at Westminster is damaging jobs and recovery – will backfire very badly on him. It shows just how out of touch Scotland’s only Tory MP is,” the spokesman added.

Salmond’s office also condemned Mundell’s comments and the British government’s Scotland Office position on SNP and the Scottish independence saying the latter’s “only remaining role” seems to be “to talk Scotland down.”

AMR/HE

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