Davidson and Sturgeon have common cause on Europe

not involve acceptance of the “four freedoms” – free movement of capital, labour, goods and services. This is an existential question for the EU, because if it concedes on any of these, then the entire EU is likely to fall apart.

That was the hardline position before the election, when Theresa May had a working majority in the Commons; does anyone seriously think the EU will have softened its line now she has been humiliated and her majority, and her mandate, obliterated?

There is no way it will accept “full and frictionless” access to the single market without the UK subscribing to its rules and paying its dues. Why should it? However, there might be some flexibility from the EU on immigration precisely because its leaders realise they’re dealing with a much-weakened Prime Minister. They can see that the hardline Brexiters have been routed and that their idea that “no deal is better than a bad deal” has been exposed as crazy. Reverting to World Trade Organisation rules, with up to 35 per cent tariffs on British exports is a ruinous proposition, and is now safely binned.

There is every possibility that Britain can be brought back into the European fold by giving it the kind of associate status that is enjoyed – if that’s the right word – by Norway. This is called the European Economic Area (EEA) and it is essentially the same as the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) that Britain set up in 1960 as an alternative to the then European Economic Community (EEC).

EEA status essentially means that Britain would remain in the European single market but is not subject to the Common Agricultural Policy, the Common Fisheries Policy or other aspects of EU Court of Justice jurisdiction. It’s not perfect. It still means paying membership dues without having any representation on EU decisionmaking bodies. But it keeps Britain in the biggest and richest free trading block the world has ever seen. And it is Brexit.

To join the EEA, Britain has to accept free movement. However, it’s not as free as it sounds, or is presented in anti-European newspapers. Switzerland, which is in EFTA, effectively has immigration quotas following a referendum there. Other EU countries have responded to the refugee crisis by imposing controls that would be deemed draconian had they been proposed here. Denmark even resorted to seizing valuables from refugees at the border.

Attitudes to free movement have changed in Europe and there is undoubtedly a greater willingness to accept that Britain had problems with mass EU migration after enlargement of the EU in 2004. However, this was largely selfinflicted. It was the UK which argued for rapid EU enlargement and decided not to impose a temporary break on migration from countries like Bulgaria and Romania.

Whatever, I think what we’ve learned from the General Election is that immigration is not the big issue any more, if it ever was. Ukip is toast. Forty per cent of the UK electorate voted for a Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, who repeatedly and vocally defended immigrants and celebrated their contribution to Britain.

There’s also a dawning realisation that less migration from the EU means more from countries like India and Pakistan. The economy needs free movement from somewhere: even the Tories agree on that.

It seems clear to me that when Ms Davidson talks of open Brexit, she really means the single market, and this has been confirmed by sources close to the Tory leader. This means both she and Nicola Sturgeon are pretty much on the same page, since the First Minister made clear before Christmas that she would shelve a second independence referendum in exchange for single market membership. That was a remarkable concession from the Nationalist leader that unfortunately got lost in the row about the Scottish Parliament’s vote on section 30 and the subsequent General Election.

It may be naïve to hope that the two rivals for Scottish votes could co-operate on promoting the single market, but there’s little doubt that this is one form of cross-party co-operation that Scottish voters would welcome.

Theresa wouldn’t like it, but perhaps’s it’s time for Ruth and Nicola to have that pint.