Scottish votes could keep England in the EU against its will and trigger a “constitutional crisis”, according to a former SNP leader.
Gordon Wilson said such an outcome in the June 23 vote could lead to Scotland becoming independent as a result of an English referendum on the future of the UK.
With polls showing support for remaining in the EU stronger in Scotland than across the UK as a whole, SNP leader and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said a vote to leave could trigger a second Scottish independence referendum.
But Mr Wilson warned that with UK-wide polls showing the decision is on “a knife-edge”, no potential outcome could be discounted.
Speaking before an open meeting on the EU referendum in Dundee, he said: “When a major member of a political union objects strongly to a controversial decision and feels it has been ganged up against, there is a real problem.
“Scots quite rightly have been looking at this issue through tartan glasses. But what if the boot is on the other foot?
“What will be the reaction in England if the crucial decision of staying in the UK is taken by the minor partner, Scotland against the wishes of the major partner with over 85% of the UK population?
“They will certainly be aggrieved. It may provoke a constitutional crisis with English folk quite rightly wanting to hold a referendum to dissolve the UK so that they can control their own destiny. And given the precedent of the Scottish vote, they will have every moral and constitutional right to do so.
“Scotland may become independent whether it wants to or not.”
Mr Wilson said the EU vote would be “based as much on mood and gut instinct as a clinical examination of the ‘facts”‘.
He added: “Radical change is rare. It can and does happen, usually from unforeseen consequences.
“With the SNP having 56 MPs and Jeremy Corbyn being elected Labour leader, the planets may be in conjunction for change in the UK.”