Indyref 2 warning as Sturgeon meets PM

‘Brexit must be delivered’

NICOLA Sturgeon will today meet Theresa May for crunch talks on Brexit.

The First Minister has not met the Prime Minister for one-to-one discussions since the Brexit process was formally launched in March.

Mrs May said last month that she would hold direct talks with Miss Sturgeon about ‘how we ensure that we get the best deal for the United Kingdom’.

Miss Sturgeon’s claim that Mrs May’s so-called repeal bill is a ‘power grab’ is likely to be at the top of the agenda during discussions in Downing Street.

The Prime Minister is unlikely to agree to the SNP leader’s demand that all 111 powers in devolved areas coming back from Brussels are handed to Holyrood.

UK ministers argue that some UK-wide frameworks will be required in devolved areas to protect the single market by replicating European Commission rules.

They have pledged that the Scottish parliament’s powers will not be diminished as a consequence of Brexit but have been unwilling to discuss specifics. A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘The First Minister will be seeking clarity on a range of issues at this meeting with the Prime Minister, including Brexit and the impact on Scotland of the EU Withdrawal Bill.

‘She will also set out the Scottish Government’s expectations of the UK budget, as well as discussing the introduction of Universal Credit.’

Miss Sturgeon has spoken of her frustration at previous talks with Mrs May, telling the New Statesman magazine: ‘This is a woman who sits in meetings where it’s just the two of you and reads from a script.’

Tory MSP Adam Tomkins, the party’s constitution spokesman, urged the UK Government to compromise. In an article earlier this week, he said: ‘Brexit must be delivered in a way that respects devolution.

‘Looking at the substance of the 111 powers, many can safely be devolved without further ado; why aviation noise, for example, would need to come under a UKwide framework I do not know.

‘But there are some – a small number in important policy areas – where some sort of common framework will be needed.’

Meanwhile, Nationalist MP Tommy Sheppard yesterday threatened another independence referendum if the UK Government was to ‘overrule’ Scottish ‘representations’ on Brexit.

Speaking in a Westminster Hall debate on e-petitions on a second independence referendum, he said the ‘mandate from 2016’ was still there and would be executed if the UK Government ignored the representations of Scotland.