INDEPENDENT Scotland would have a better start “than virtually any nation in history,” First Minister Alex Salmond claimed yesterday despite lingering questions over EU membership.

The SNP leader seized the chance for another stump speech at a public meeting of the Scottish cabinet in Rutherglen.

“The key point is that with independence we could use every policy power available to us — targeted tax measures, export promotion, linking our skills policies to wider measures on employment — to reindustrialise Scotland and create a competitive and fair modern economy,” he said.

But the Commons Scottish affairs committee warned a newly independent nation rejoining the European Union could “lose all or most of the special arrangements presently enjoyed as part of the UK” — deals ranging from opting out of the euro to exemptions on Europe-wide directives governing justice and home affairs.

Labour committee chairman Ian Davidson said it was likely Scotland would be accepted, “but not on the timetable or terms that the Scottish government wants.”