Alex Salmond is not the “statesman” an independent Scotland would need, according to former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind.
The Conservative Kensington MP laid into the First Minister during a speech to the Farmers Club in Edinburgh.
He raised a number of potential issues for an independent Scotland, including the currency, Nato membership and joining the EU, which he conceded was “probable” but would take “several years”.
Sir Malcolm said: “Alex Salmond is a smart politician but he is not showing himself to be a statesman, frank and open with the Scottish public.
“It is a great pity. Scotland needs a statesman.”
An SNP spokesman said: “It is ironic that Malcolm Rifkind is back in Scotland trying to tell Scottish farmers what is best for them he was voted out as part of the Tory wipeout in 1997.”
