Alex Salmond hits the ball into the rough

[David Johnson]

Mr. Salmond has been stating for most of this year that the SNP government has taken legal advice from its own government's lawyers as to whether an independent Scotland would automatically be an EU member.

Salmond stated that advice underpinned the documents produced by the SNP but he could not reveal the details of that advice because of the "ministerial code".

The opposition parties had demanded that this advice should be revealed and went to the Information Commissioner to support their case.

In July, Scotland's information commissioner Rosemary Agnew had requested Scottish ministers to either confirm or deny whether legal advice had been sought. A large amount of taxpayers money was spent in this argy bargy.

The Scottish government appealed that request at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. The appeal was due to be heard by the court in the middle of December, but the SNP Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon revealed that the government was dropping that court battle.

Why?

Because yesterday Nicola Sturgeon told Holyrood that specific legal advice had only just been commissioned.

In short, Alex has been caught moving the ball out of the rough onto the fairway.

Why the fibbing? Well the EU Commission President Barroso has already explained " "It is a procedure of international law. A state has to be a democracy first of all and that state has to apply to become a member of the European Union and all the other member states have to give their consent. A new state (i.e. like Catalonia or a newly independent Scotland, if it wants to join the European Union), has to apply to become a member of the European Union like any state.

WHen you think about Barroso's statement it could hardly be any other way. The EU has enough grief already with countries like Greece fiddling their economic figures to get into the EU and now receiving huge bailouts and debt writeoffs. The last thing the EU is going to do is just do a quick one pager with Alex "Braveheart" Salmond and hope for the best.

This could take many years before an independent Scotland joins the EU and if any current member disagrees, they are stuffed.

[David Johnson]

Spanish foreign minister tells Salmond an independent Scotland would have to join the queue and negotiate as a new member state and win the support of all 27 members.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012 ... ship-spain

[Arginald Valleywater]

So in Golf terms he has a downhill, sidehill lie in thick rough over a bunker to a hard green that slopes towards the water. Or he's screwed. I can imagine the morning after the vote and by some miracle the vote is a yes....Alex you're in charge now. We need an army, a health service, teachers will want ?40k a year, the railways and roads are fucked and we have mass unemployment. And BP have just told you to fuck any idea of taking a cut of their revenues.........

[David Johnson]

Well, Salmond has already achieved a first, I would have thought.

And that is to spend loads of taxpayers money to try and avoid making public, legal advice he has never actually obtained.

[Arginald Valleywater]

And with his majority slimmed by 2 this week as 2 SNP's go independent over NATO????