Scotland's future in UK not a reason to back Remain in EU vote, says Liam Fox

Speaking on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire show, the Somerset MP who was born in East Kilbride said: “No. Scotland decided to remain part of the United Kingdom. That’s something that I welcome.

"And of course if Britain decided to remain in the European Union there’s no guarantee that Scotland at some point wouldn’t have another referendum. So it shouldn’t be a consideration that forces us to abandon the merits or demerits of European Union membership.”

RELATED CONTENT

Nicola Sturgeon warns David Cameron to stay out of Scotland during EU referendum campaign

UKIP to gain seven Scottish parliament seats, according to new poll

Dr Fox explained why remaining a part of the EU could expose the UK to Paris-style terror attacks.

“I think if you look at the reality of what’s happening on the continent. The Europol says 5,000 EU citizens have been trained in terror camps and come back to Europe. We know that there’s been a lot of people coming into the European Union from places as far as Afghanistan or Iran. It’s impossible to know whether they’re genuine refugees or economic migrants or whether they’re sympathetic to some of these extremist movements or whether in fact IS and other groups have been able to infiltrate them. Now, if we are unable to control our borders, we don’t know who these people [are who] will be coming into the UK.”

He argued leaving the EU would allow the UK to take back control of its borders.

“Yes it does, because if you look at the way in which we’ve had migration in recent times. One of the things that people like me have been actually suggesting is that we have a proper points system for people coming to live and work in the UK. The sort of system Australia has. We can’t apply that while we’re members or the European Union, because it’s illegal under European Union law. And I go back to the point I made initially, if you can’t make your own law and you can’t control your own borders, you are not an independent, free sovereign nation.”