The new Prime Minister said the meeting had been “very constructive and positive”.
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Following her unsparing cabinet reshuffle, May will meet Scotland’s first minister at her official residence, Bute House, where the prime minister has said she intends to emphasise her strong personal support for the Union, as well as her commitment to fully engaging with the Scottish government in the coming Brexit negotiations.
Whereas the U.K.as a whole voted on June 23 to quit the European Union, every district of Scotland voted to stay in the bloc.
“Our involvement in that process is not simply to prepare for an exit Scotland didn’t vote for”, said Sturgeon, who leads the pro-independence Scottish National Party.
Earlier this week, David Mundell, the reappointed Scottish Secretary, suggested he was open to Scotland having a different Brexit deal to the rest of the United Kingdom if it was “doable”.
“I have been very clear that we have to make sure that Scotland’s interests are protected and I want to examine every option of doing that”.
Mr Hammond said: “However we voted, we are part of the United Kingdom and we have democratic decisions made across the United Kingdom”. She is thought to have believed David Cameron caved in too easily to SNP demands before and after the 2014 referendum.
Over two-thirds of the new cabinet attended state schools, in line with May’s promise on taking office to “build a better Britain. that works for everyone – not just the privileged few”.
She said: “It’s not my starting point – my starting point is how we best protect Scotland’s interest – so all options have to be on the table”.
In May, Davis suggested the UK would negotiate individual trade deals with other European Union countries, which is not permissible under European Union rules: “Post Brexit a UK-German deal would include free access for their cars and industrial goods, in exchange for a deal on everything else”, he said on May 26.
The crunch talks in Edinburgh will be seen as a last-ditch attempt to prevent the SNP leader from carrying out her threat to pursue a second independence referendum.
For her part, Sturgeon said on Friday it would be inconceivable for the United Kingdom to block a second independence referendum if the devolved parliament in Edinburgh voted for it. “We will not implement the decision that the people of the United Kingdom collectively have made to leave the European Union”, he said.
“That’s why I’ve assembled a team of experts that will advise me on the options that might exist, and it was very important today to get a commitment from the Prime Minister to listen to options that the Scottish Government will bring forward”.
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“And it is also because people’s memories of the divisiveness and toxicity of that independence referendum campaign are still fresh – and many people don’t want to revive them”.
