Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson was reprimanded for branding Alex Salmond “the Pinocchio of Scottish politics”.
During a stormy First Minister’s Questions which saw Presiding Officer Tricia Marwick intervene on numerous occasions, Ms Davidson cited a letter held in the Scottish Parliament’s information service from Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission.
It comes a fortnight after Mr Salmond was roundly criticised after he quoted from another letter from the commission to back up his position that an independent Scotland would find its way into the EU without having to leave and reapply for membership.
The letter Ms Davidson quoted was lodged at Holyrood when Mr Salmond used the correspondence from the pro-independence website Newsnet Scotland.
A spokesman for the First Minister said he was not aware of the new European Commission letter “until more recently”.
Ms Davidson said: “He is the Pinocchio of Scottish politics. Every time he speaks on Europe, his nose grows another inch.”
That led to Ms Marwick forcing the Tory leader to apologise for un-parliamentary language.
Both letters say the commission would only be able to express an opinion on the legal consequences under EU law if it is given a “precise scenario” from a member state, in this case the UK.
The spokesman added: “In the time that Ruth Davidson can go to her Prime Minister and ask him to agree to the Scottish Government’s suggestion to go to the European Commission with the precise legal position, then perhaps she can come back and revise her view.”