Sturgeon will be hoping for a way to step back from the brink

THERESA MAY didn’t mince her words at the Tory conference – Scotland will leave the EU with the rest of the UK. There will be no veto, no opt-out.

It was fighting talk and Nicola Sturgeon hit back with predictable equal force at the SNP’s gathering of their faithful.

Her announcement the Independence Referendum Bill will be published for consultation this week stole the headlines.

But that was largely aimed at sating those who kept telling her to “hurry up”, as the First Minister put it.

She cleverly appeared to be firing the starting gun, while not actually committing to very much at all and leaving plenty of wriggle room.

Her determination for Scotland to revisit the independence question “before the UK leaves the EU” – followed by the caveat “if that is necessary to protect our country’s interests” – can be seen in similar terms.

While the intervention should force UK Labour to strengthen its position on the independence question, I can’t imagine May is quaking in her shoes.

Perhaps more interesting food for thought is Sturgeon’s call for the Prime Minister to negotiate a deal enabling Scotland to stay in the single market when the UK leaves the EU.

If that can’t be achieved, she has insisted, another independence referendum would be justified.

The wishful thinkers will see this as paving the way for IndyRef2, but Sturgeon – terrified of being pushed into a vote that will be lost – will be hoping for a way to step back from the brink, without losing face.

An agreement – if May can pull it off – that enables the UK (and thereby Scotland) to remain a member of at least parts of the single market or within certain industries, for instance, could be that solution.

The SNP could claim victory and it would kick the independence can down the road – or at least a little further – allowing Sturgeon to return to the question when she’s in a stronger position.

In the current circumstances, painting a “Scexit” from the UK as somehow protecting Scottish interests is a difficult narrative to spin.

Thus, for as long as the UK union remains so important to Scotland economically, May will retain the initiative.

That said, the Tory leader’s plate did just get heavier.

The latest curveball from north of the Border will test her ability to navigate the already thorny and crowded constitutional landscape.

Moreover, with SNP MPs poised to block the Bill repealing the legislation that enacted the UK’s EU membership and their colleagues of all colours baying for her blood, May can’t rule out a Brexit rebellion in the Commons.

Buckle up – it’s going to be a bumpy ride.