Prime Minister Theresa May has told First Minister Nicola Sturgeon she is “willing to listen to options” on Scotland’s future relationship with the European Union.
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Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday Politics Scotland programme, Ms Sturgeon said: “I think we have got a window of opportunity now between where we are right now and the triggering of Article 50, whenever that happens, to see if there is a way of effectively squaring the circle”.
Mrs May also said she would not trigger article 50 – the formal process of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union – until there was a “UK approach and objectives”.
Among the options open to her, she said, are stopping the United Kingdom leaving the EU, Scotland staying within the United Kingdom and the EU, or Scotland becoming independent and becoming a member of the EU.
On Mrs May’s first official visit to Scotland as Prime Minister, both leaders described their meeting as constructive but clashed on the prospect of Scotland holding a second independence referendum.
“If it’s not possible to do that… then I’ve been very clear that of course the option of a second independence referendum is one that has to be on the table”, she said. Asked if Scotland could have a different relationship with the European Union than the rest of the UK, Ms May replied: “I want to get the best possible deal for the United Kingdom out of our negotiations for the UK leaving the European Union, but I’m willing to listen to options”. She said Friday she would not launch formal negotiations until there is a “UK approach” involving Scotland, which strongly backed remaining in the bloc.
“So I think we can find a way of working together, notwithstanding those disagreements”.
“We will seek to enter into immediate discussions with the EU institutions and the other EU member states to explore all possible options to protect Scotland’s place in the EU”, Sturgeon had said after the June vote.
Scots rejected independence by 55-45 percent in the referendum two years ago, but since then Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party has gone from strength to strength, winning 56 of Scotland’s 59 seats in the British parliament in the 2015 election.
“So we’re not going to be in agreement with that and we’re not going to be in agreement with the idea that there should be another independence referendum”.
And speaking to Sky, David Davis, the United Kingdom government minister responsible for Brexit, said he did not think Scotland could have such an arrangement.
Mrs May insisted her Cabinet shake-up was “bold” and necessary after she dismissed George Osborne, Michael Gove, Oliver Letwin, Nicky Morgan and John Whittingdale.
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In a sign that the new Prime Minister was committed to keeping the Union intact, she said she would not trigger Article 50 – the formal process for withdrawing from the EU – until all the devolved nations in the country agree.
