Scotland may have to reapply for membership of international organisations such as the UN and EU if it votes for independence, according to legal advice published by the British government.

The rest of the United Kingdom would be a "continuing state" with the same status it currently has in international law if Scotland secedes after a 2014 referendum, the 57-page legal opinion says.

However, Scotland would become a "new state" and therefore would not automatically be party to thousands of treaties and membership of bodies also including NATO, the IMF and World Bank.

The status of an independent Scotland under international law has been a subject of debate since Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, announced last year he planned to call a referendum on leaving the UK.

UK Prime Minister David Cameron commented on the issue on Sunday.

"Those glorious Olympics last summer reminded us just what we were capable of when we pull together: Scottish, English, Welsh, Northern Irish, all in the same boat – sometimes literally," he said.

"If you told many people watching those Olympics around the world that we were going to erect barriers between our people, they'd probably be baffled. Put simply: Britain works. Britain works well. Why break it?"

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