SNP and Green Party politicians used Europe Day today to call for an independent Scotland within the European Union.

The parties claimed Britain as a whole risked being “marooned” outside the trading bloc, but that Scotland had “long-standing shared values” with the continent.

SNP external affairs secretary Angus Robertson said: “On Europe Day, we celebrate a lifetime of peace in Europe, achieved in no small part by the creation of the EU.

“With war having again returned to our continent, now is the time to stand together and heal the divisions of the past.

“We are unwavering in our belief that Scotland’s best future lies as an independent country within the EU.

“The current global economic volatility simply reinforces the importance of Scotland having the security, stability and opportunity that comes with EU membership.”

Scottish Greens co-leader Lorna Slater claimed the “far-right threat” made the case for closer ties to the EU “stronger each day.”

“Europe Day gives us a space to reflect on Scotland’s past, present and future,” she said.

“Five years later we are still picking up the pieces of a Brexit that people in Scotland overwhelmingly rejected.

“Scotland deserves better. As a self-governing country, we could reconnect with Europe to build strong ties again.

“With the creep of fascism around the world, serious climate breakdown and the UK’s political landscape changing, the case for Scotland to reconnect with the EU grows stronger every day.”

But Radical Options for Scotland and Europe (Rose) secretary Vince Mills remains unconvinced.

He told the Star: “It is neither surprising nor unexpected that EU enthusiasts like Robertson and Slater should present EU membership as a utopian solution to Britain and Scotland’s economic ills and political upheavals.

“They have of course ignored that had Britain or Scotland, as an independent country, been in the EU they would almost certainly have fallen foul of the EU’s excessive deficit and debt strictures.

“Seven countries were directed to correct their excessive deficit situation: Belgium, France, Italy, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Romania. 

“This has led, of course, to severe cuts in public expenditure in some of those countries and political disruption in others, like France. 

“And as for political stability, have they not noticed the march of the ultra right in the core countries of the EU: Germany, Italy and France? 

“Happy Europe day.”