Sturgeon and May set for Brexit summit

● No 10 offers face-to-face meeting after row over First Minister being ‘banned’

Nicola Sturgeon and Theresa May will hold face-to-face talks after Downing Street extended an olive branch in a bid to break a deadlock over new powers for Scotland after Brexit.

It follows claims during the summer that Ms Sturgeon had been “banned” from meeting the Prime Minister in a bid to undermine the First Minister.

No date has been set for a meeting between the Prime Minister and the First Minister, but talks are expected to be held within the coming weeks.

Administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and London are locked in debate over legislation to enact Brexit, which the Scottish and Welsh government claim is a “power grab” over devolved responsibilities including agriculture and the environment.

Devolved administrations have threatened to block legislative consent for the Repeal Bill and trigger a constitutional crisis unless powers in devolved areas returning from Brussels after Brexit areas are passed directly to Edinburgh and Cardiff.

However, recent weeks has seen signs of a breakthrough, with both sides accepting the need for common regulatory frameworks across the UK to ensure trade continues without any internal barriers after Brexit. UK ministers insist that all powers that can be devolved, will be.

Reports suggest a letter was sent from Number 10 to Bute House on Sunday, although a Scottish Government spokesman was quoted saying that only an “informal approach” had so far been made. The spokesman said the First Minister would be “more than happy to meet” Mrs May.

A Downing Street spokesman said talks would be held “in the near future”.

In July, a Conservative minister was quoted suggesting that Ms Sturgeon had been ‘banned’ from meeting the Prime Minister.

The source said: “She will no longer get the same access to the Prime Minister. She should be meeting [Scottish Secretary] David Mundell because he is at the same level as her.” The First Minister and the Prime Minister last met in Glasgow in March.

Meanwhile, it was confirmed that Mrs May’s deputy will meet ministers from the Scottish and Welsh governments for Brexit talks in a fortnight.

The EU subcommittee of the intergovernmental Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) will next meet on 16 October, when Damian Green will sit down with Scottish Government Brexit minister Michael Russell for talks on the detail of the Repeal Bill.

The date was confirmed by Mr Mundell in a letter to his Labour opposite number, Lesley Laird.

Ms Laird had joined other opposition figures in complaining about the lack of JMC meetings to discuss Brexit, with none since the spring.

“The Secretary of State has consistently claimed that the UK government is committed to consult and engage with the devolved administrations in a constructive manner,” Ms Laird said.“if that is to mean anything in practice, the government must listen, compromise, and accept Labour’s amendments to the bill.”