The Liberal Democrats got their European election campaign under way yesterday by claiming there was a stark choice for voters tempted to back other parties.
George Lyon, the party’s only MEP in Scotland, said: “We’re giving people a very stark choice.
“Ukip and the Tories clearly want to walk out through the exit door, the SNP puts our place in Europe under threat through their independence plan and Labour, they’re split on Europe and . . . will hardly lift a finger to defend our place in the EU.”
He was joined by Scottish Secretary Alistair Carmichael and Scottish party leader Willie Rennie to formally start his campaign for re-election at a visit to a whisky bottling plant in Edinburgh.
Mr Lyon focused the campaign message in response to the looming independence referendum on September 18.
Sending another SNP MEP to Brussels would not help Scotland maintain its level of support after independence, he claimed.
And he questioned claims in the Scottish Government’s white paper on independence, which suggest that full EU statehood can be achieved within 18 months of a Yes vote. “I believe the Scottish referendum and a vote for independence is indeed the first and biggest threat to our relationship with the EU.”
Mr Carmichael, the Lib Dem MP for Orkney and Shetland said the SNP was now compromised on Europe.
“In the past the SNP have very much been in competition for the vote with ourselves. Since they allowed their obsession with independence to take front and centre stage, they have diminished their own European credentials.”
He added: “If you are genuinely a pro-European voter in Scotland then the SNP is now a fundamentally unattractive proposition for you.”
Mr Rennie, a Mid Scotland and Fife MSP, described Mr Lyon as the most effective MEP in Britain.
Of Scotland’s six MEPs, the SNP and Labour both have two, while the Lib Dems and Conservatives have one each. But with the Lib Dems having suffered a decline in support since 2009 there has been speculation that they might lose their only Scottish MEP in this month’s ballot.
SNP candidate Stephen Gethins said: “Leaving the EU would be a disaster for the thousands of people across Scotland whose jobs depend on being part of the EU – jobs that Westminster is happy to sacrifice to its anti-Europe agenda.
“That is why a study from the University of Edinburgh last week found that support for remaining in the EU is significantly stronger in Scotland than in England.
“This year gives people in Scotland the chance to ensure that Scotland’s interests are no longer undermined by Westminster.”
The European election is being held on May 22.