THE UK "will cease to exist" unless the UK government is flexible over the SNP's Brexit proposals, Scottish Labour’s longest-serving parliamentarian has told fellow MEPs.

Just days after he said he believed the country will vote for independence over concerns about the direction England is going in, David Martin MEP told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that the Prime Minister's approach to negotiations with the EU had left the UK "hanging by a thread".

His comments also came just hours after Mr Martin, an MEP for 33 years, dropped his biggest hint yet that he would be the highest profile figure within Labour to declare support for Scottish independence.

But in a clear sign of a chasm emerging between Mr Martin and his party's hierarchy, a Scottish Labour spokesman said it would "never support independence", adding that the UK had "consistently delivered for Scotland".

Speaking during this morning’s European Parliamentary debate on Brexit, Mr Martin said: "In September 2014 I voted to keep Scotland in the UK. In June 2016 I voted to keep the UK in the European Union.

"Today I face the reality that BREXIT will remove my country from one Union and leave the other hanging by a thread.

"Scotland voted overwhelmingly to remain in the EU. Edinburgh a city I have represented in this House for 33 years voted 75% to 25% to remain.

"The feeling in Scotland is that we are being dragged out of Europe against our will - a feeling only compounded by Mrs May's determination to pursue a hard Brexit.

"The resolution we are about to vote on recognises this fact but provides no solution."The Council document calls for flexible and imaginative solutions to be found for Ireland - I agree, but ask why not also for Scotland?

"The Scottish Government has put forward an imaginative and flexible solution for Scotland. It deserves serious consideration in this house.

"If the UK is not flexible in these talks, the UK will not only be leaving the European Union. The UK will cease to exist."

Mr Martin had said earlier in the day that he had "no idea at the moment" about where he stood on independence.

In a BBC interview he said: "The very fact that I can't give you a straight answer indicates that I have moved. If you had asked me that question 18 months ago it would be a definitive that I would vote to remain in the United Kingdom.

"Now I think Brexit has put up a whole lot of questions that have yet to be answered."

But a spokesman for Scottish Labour said: "Labour will never support independence.

"The UK has consistently delivered for the people of Scotland - from the UK pension that supports our older people, to the UK resources that sustains our NHS.

"Leaving the UK would mean an extra £15billion worth of spending to cuts to schools and hospitals in Scotland. Labour will never sign up to something that would be so catastrophic for working families in Scotland."

An SNP spokesman said: "The Scottish Parliament has voted in favour of holding an independence referendum, once the terms of Brexit are clear, and there is a cast-iron democratic mandate for such a vote.

"This significant contribution from one of Labour's most respected and experienced politicians underlines just how far the debate has shifted since 2014 – and why people in Scotland must be given a choice over their future."