The former newspaper editor who masterminded a promise of extra powers for Holyrood in the days before the independence referendum has said Scotland should quit the UK.

Murray Foote, who stood down as editor of the Daily Record in March, orchestrated The Vow, a front page declaration of further devolution signed by the then Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat leaders.

Alex Salmond has insisted that the intervention was a crucial factor in persuading Scots to choose not to leave the Union in 2014.

Mr Foote, 51, has revealed that he backs Scottish independence, accusing the UK government of showing “blatant contempt” for devolution following the passage of the European Union Withdrawal Bill without Holyrood’s consent.

Writing in today’s Times, he said proceedings at Westminster on