Scottish voters should be given the chance to vote on abolishing the Scottish Parliament, according to veteran Labour politician Tam Dalyell.

“I do know I have a minority opinion, and that is that if there is a Scottish Parliament to continue then it will be very difficult to avoid something that is indistinguishable from an independent state" he said.

"I think there should be a way in which those who want the parliament brought to an end can express their opinion"

The Scotsman reports he added: "I think that there are very few politicians who would want it, there are very few journalists who would want it, but I think there are a great many people up and down Scotland [who would]”

Dalyell, who was speaking at the Boswell Book Festival in Ayshire, spent 43 years in Parliament. He is credited with first posing the "West Lothian Question", on whether Scottish MPs should be able to vote on issues that only matter to England.

“The present situation is not stable, and what I am entitled to say is, ‘Yes, I don’t know what will happen, but what I would like to happen is the abolition of the Edinburgh parliament’" he added.

Dalyell also warned that the 'devo-max' option on the ballot would destabilise the British tax system and herald the breaking up of the United Kingdom.

“There is no way in which devo-max, if it’s the break-up of fiscal and monetary powers, can form a stable situation. People will have to make up their minds – do they want to be separate from England or not? In my belief there is a majority of Scottish people who do not want to see separation" he said.

The SNP government, which is in favour of independence, plans to hold a poll on the break up of the United Kingdom before 2015 and has proposed that Scots be asked: "Do you agree that Scotland should be an independent country?"