2012 has not been a year to remember for Alex Salmond. The Scottish First Minister has seen support for independence continue to erode (one in four supporters have deserted the nationalist cause this year), further scrutiny of his ties to Rupert Murdoch, and his parliamentary majority reduced to one after two MSPs resigned over the SNP’s U-turn on Nato membership.
The latest – and biggest – blow is the news that, contrary to Salmond’s previous assertions, an independent Scotland would have to apply for EU membership. A leaked draft letter from the EU Commission to the House of Lords economic affairs commitee (published by the Scotsman) stated that “if a territory of a member state ceases to be part of that member state because it has become an independent state then the treaties would cease to apply to that territory.” This contradicts the SNP’s long-standing insistence that Scotland would automatically inherit the UK’s EU membership and its opt-outs from the euro (Salmond having long rescinded his support for the single currency) and the Schengen Area.
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