SNP ministers have been criticised for refusing to reveal the costs of setting up and running a security and intelligence agency in an independent Scotland.
Labour justice spokesman Graeme Pearson said international relationships in national security issues depended on mutual confidence between states.
He demanded the SNP Government outline the figures and explain how it will pay for what will be the equivalent to MI5 and MI6.
Ministers have claimed an independent Scotland would have national security arrangements that reflected its needs and values and the threats it would face.
The white paper says: “A new security and intelligence agency will have a range of responsibilities focused on intelligence-gathering, analysis and reporting, assessment of risk and threat, cyber security and protection of critical infrastructure.”
The row comes weeks after Finance Secretary John Swinney came under attack for refusing to put a figure on the start-up costs of a new state.
Responding to a parliamentary question on how much it would cost to set up and run the proposed vetting service for the security agency, Mr Swinney said: “The elected government of an independent Scotland will have control over all public expenditure in Scotland and will be able to take spending decisions which reflect the priorities and needs of a Scottish security vetting service.
“The size of the one off investment in systems and processes as a result of the transition to independence will be a small proportion of an independent Scotland’s total budget.”
Mr Pearson claimed Mr Swinney’s response showed the SNP had no understanding of cost.
“Matters of international relationships in national security issues depend on mutual confidence between states,” he added.
“It can take centuries to build up relationships between states and to think you can knit this together in a few months is naive in the extreme.”