Brexit face-off: ‘Heed the voice of Scotland,’ Sturgeon warns May
THE First Minister has warned Theresa May that “time is fast running out for her” to deliver a compromise Brexit deal for Scotland as the two leaders hold crunch talks tomorrow. Sturgeon and May will come face to face for the first time since the Prime Minister set out her hard Brexit plans, that will see the UK pull out of the single market.
The talks in Cardiff also take place in the aftermath of last week’s Supreme Court judgment that MPs must vote on whether the UK Government can start the Brexit process.
Sturgeon said May had “another chance” tomorrow to pull back from her hard Brexit position and to “heed the voice of Scotland,” which overwhelmingly voted to Remain in the EU last year.
However, she said there was “no sign whatsoever that the UK Government is taking Scotland’s position remotely seriously” after May ruled out a separate European deal for Scotland earlier this month.
Sturgeon’s “compromise proposals” to protect Scots from a “Hard Brexit” will form a key part of the talks, which also include representatives of the devolved administrations of Wales and Northern Ireland. The First Minister has set out the plans for a radical package of powers to be devolved over areas such as employment rights, business regulation and immigration aimed at allowing Scotland to remain in the single market even if the rest of the UK leaves the bloc.
Sturgeon said tomorrow’s meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) would be one of the most critical since the EU referendum last June. “This meeting comes at a crucial juncture, with the clock ticking down to the triggering of Article 50 and with, so far, no sign whatsoever that the UK Government is taking Scotland’s position remotely seriously.
“The JMC meeting in Cardiff is another chance for the Prime Minister to heed the voice of Scotland and the other devolved governments – and she must take the opportunity to do so.”
Sturgeon has already said a second independence referendum is now “more likely” after May confirmed the UK would leave the single market, which allows for free movement of goods and services.
However, Sturgeon warned May that time was running out to agree to the SNP’s plan – which falls short of Scottish independence – and forms the basis of the First Minister’s negotiations with the PM and Scottish Secretary David Mundell tomorrow.
“We have compromised by publishing detailed proposals to keep Scotland in the European single market even if the rest of the UK leaves,” she said. These proposals are formally on the agenda for this meeting, and so the Prime Minister tomorrow has a chance to show she is serious about her pledge to properly consider them.
“So far, the Tories’ words on respecting Scotland’s voice and the UK being a partnership of equals have amounted to nothing more than empty rhetoric. But the Prime Minister should be in no doubt that time is fast running out for her to show that Scotland’s needs and interests can be accommodated through the UK Brexit process.”
Meanwhile, SNP MEP Alyn Smith said there was widespread support among other EU nations for the options Sturgeon had put forward to stay in the single market.
Smith claimed there was also now more understanding of the party’s position on independence in Europe then there was in 2014. “The options paper has a lot of support across the member states. There’s no question that there’s a different attitude to the Scottish question this time. There’s an openness to where we’re coming from as we’re the ones having rights taken away from us,” he said.
A UK Government spokesperson responded: “We are determined that the devolved administrations be fully engaged as we form the UK’s negotiating position for exit. The JMC process gives Scottish ministers direct access to the UK Government as we plan and all proposals from the devolved administrations are being studied carefully.
“We are focused on getting the right deal for Scotland and the UK for the best possible access to the EU market for British businesses. It also means ensuring a strong future for our United Kingdom, which the Scottish Government’s own export figures show is worth four times more to Scotland’s economy than the EU single market.”