An independent Scotland would have to commit to adopting the euro and could even seek to hold a referendum on when to start using it, according to a senior SNP MSP.

Alyn Smith, who was elected to Holyrood in May’s elections and has previously served as both an MEP and an MP, admitted that there would have to be a firm commitment to using the single currency in order for a separate Scotland to be able to rejoin the European Union.

He also attempted to downplay concerns about police looking into the finances of the pro-independence campaign group Yes Scotland after a complaint and claimed that the complainer who took the case to police had ‘motivations’ for doing so.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast, Mr Smith, MSP for Stirling, said: ‘What we are looking for is a normal accession process. 

‘We are not the first country to accede into the European Union so there is a well-trodden path that Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, umpteen others have gone through over the time, and there is a commitment to participate in economic and monetary union, yes, but there is no timescale attached to that.’

The SNP’s current position is that an independent Scotland would continue using the pound for an unspecified period of time before setting up its own Scottish pound.

Mr Smith said the creation of a Scottish pound would be ‘a precursor to join the euro’.

He said: ‘The commitment is to participate in economic and monetary union and that is something we will take on, of course we will, because that is what you need to do to accede into the European Union, every EU country has accepted this, but there are lots of EU countries that are not members of the euro because their people have not consented to it yet and it’s not been the proper time, so it’s not the proper time for us.’

When pressed further on the policy, he said an independent Scotland would join the euro ‘when the time is right’ and claimed that ‘there would need to be a second referendum on the euro for the people of Scotland to decide that’.

Scottish Conservative deputy leader Rachael Hamilton said: ‘This senior SNP MSP tied himself up in knots while trying to talk about his party’s obsession with constitutional matters.

‘Scots listening to Alyn Smith will be none the wiser about the nationalists’ latest plans to try and break up the United Kingdom.

‘But they are also sick and tired of SNP politicians revisiting the same old debates rather than what really matters to them.

‘They should be focused on bringing down people’s bills, growing the economy and fixing Scotland’s struggling public services, instead of constantly banging on about more referendums.’

Meanwhile, Mr Smith dismissed concerns about the finances of Yes Scotland following a complaint about alleged missing funds.

David Henry, a former SNP branch secretary, has made a complaint to Police Scotland about allegations that £1.5 million went missing from Yes Scotland, which was set up by the SNP to run the pro-independence campaign ahead of the 2014 referendum.

Mr Smith said: ‘It was an entirely separate organisation with separate accounts, and the accounts were properly filed and properly accepted.

‘We need to let the cops do their thing if there’s been a complaint but I think we can look at the motivations of the complaint, in terms of where it actually came from. But I’m not in a position to comment because I wasn’t part of Yes Scotland.’