Michael Moore said he wanted a vote which was "fair, decisive and clear"Scottish Secretary Michael Moore is to make a statement to the Commons on the legal status of a referendum on Scottish independence.
Mr Moore is expected to say the power to change Scotland's constitutional settlement rests with Westminster.
He will say that a vote organised by the Scottish government would be purely advisory and open to legal challenge.
It is thought Mr Moore will outline the conditions under which he would offer to transfer the power to Holyrood.
The Scottish National Party (SNP), which won an overall majority in the Scottish Parliament election's last May, has pledged to hold a referendum on independence in the second half of its five-year term.
The Tory-Lib Dem coalition government at Westminster said that under the terms of the 1998 Scotland Act, which set up the devolved administration, the Scottish government could hold a referendum but the result would only have advisory status.
Mr Moore, the Lib Dem MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, said he wanted the SNP government to hold a vote which was "fair, decisive and clear".
He wants a Yes/No vote on independence and not one which involves a second question on greater powers for the Scottish Parliament.
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said: "UK ministers fear that two votes risks creating confusion.
"They also argue that giving the Scottish Parliament greater powers over tax and spend, without full independence, would have knock-on consequences for the rest of the UK and so cannot be a matter for the Scottish people alone to decide on."
It is thought Mr Moore's statement will talk of a temporary transfer of power to the Scottish Parliament but it will not impose any 18-month time limit, which had previously been mooted.
However, the three Unionist parties - Conservatives, Lib Dems and Labour - all argue that a vote should come sooner rather than later.
The UK government is also opposed to SNP proposals to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in the referendum.
And it will insist on the Electoral Commission playing a role in the running of the vote.
On Monday, Prime Minister David Cameron said he was not trying to "dictate" the terms of a Scottish independence referendum.
Scotland's Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon accused Mr Cameron of "a blatant attempt to interfere" in a decision that should be for the Scottish government and Scottish people.
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