Salmond is ‘in denial’ about staying in EU
ALEX Salmond was yesterday accused of ‘denying reality’ after he claimed Nicola Sturgeon would have ‘no problem’ gaining support from European nations over her Brexit proposals.
The former First Minister made the comments only hours after Miss Sturgeon’s proposals were shot down by politicians from two EU countries.
Her plans to keep Scotland in the single market will need the backing of all 27 EU nations and have been described as ‘all but impossible’.
However, speaking to LBC radio yesterday, Mr Salmond, the SNP’s foreign affairs spokesman, said the Scottish Government would have ‘no difficulty’ in gaining support across Europe. He claimed the only hurdle was convincing Theresa May to include the plan in the UK’s negotiating position.
He said: ‘Our difficulty and our challenge is to persuade the UK government to adopt Scotland’s interests in their negotiating position. That’s where the battle is going to lie. If this was a matter of Scotland coming to terms with the rest of the continent, we would have no difficulty whatsoever.’
Danish MEP Anders Vistisen has described Miss Sturgeon’s plans as ‘unworkable’ and said they could harm the Prime Minister’s chance of securing a good deal.
He said: ‘It will be used by people who would like to punch Britain for Brexit and who are trying to derail some of the wishes coming from the United Kingdom.’
Jorge Toledo, the Spanish secretary of state for the EU, confirmed that Spain would only negotiate one deal for the UK.
A Scottish Conservatives spokesman said: ‘Mr Salmond would be well advised to listen to the criticism about its practicality from around the continent.
‘Denying reality didn’t help the SNP prior to the independence referendum and it won’t help them now either.’