Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon yesterday insisted that an independence referendum would be legal, but refused to reveal whether the Scottish Government's own lawyers agreed.

Ms Sturgeon was questioned by members of a Holyrood committee on the government's plans to put their proposals to the public in 2010.

Opposition MSPs on the European and external relations committee questioned whether it was within the power of the Scottish Parliament to hold a referendum which could give ministers the power to begin negotiations with Westminster on Scottish independence.

Liberal Democrat MSP Iain Smith asked Ms Sturgeon whether the government's legal team had confirmed that the referendum would be within Holyrood's remit.

Ms Sturgeon said: "Iain Smith knows very well the fact and content of legal advice cannot be commented on.

"What I'm saying is that it's my view and it's the government's view that a referendum is within the competence of the Scottish Parliament. I cannot put it any more clearly than that."

She added: "If it's not possible for the Scottish Parliament to consult the people of Scotland on more powers for the parliament, then a greater argument for independence is difficult to think about."

The Deputy First Minister was giving evidence on the government's National Conversation, which was launched earlier this year as part of a White Paper on Scotland's constitutional future.

She told the committee that the accompanying website had received more than 345,000 hits and that around 25,000 copies of the White Paper had been downloaded.

Ms Sturgeon described the consultation as "inclusive, open and wide-ranging" and contrasted it with the constitutional commission supported by Labour, the Conservatives and the LibDems, which will look at ways of extending Holyrood's powers within the UK.

She said: "The national conversation lets all the people of Scotland have their say, while the constitutional commission restricts contributions to an elite few.

"Its limited nature means that it's work cannot replicate the National Conversation."