Welcome U-turn on single market’

0 Guy Verhofstadt: Scotland must follow majority decision embraced “a solution for the whole of the UK” that includes the single market.

Ms Cherry said: “It’s vital that Scotland maintains its place in the Single Market and Customs Union – to protect our economy, jobs and living standards. These comments from European Parliament’s chief negotiator signal that any failure to bring forward proposals for sensible compromise are squarely the fault of the Tories.”

Mr Verhofstadt added that while he had sympathy with Scotland wanting to stay in the EU, the “institutional structure” of the UK meant it was obliged to follow the majority.

He said: “It’s obvious, everybody sees the contradiction but because of the institutional structure of your country, you are obliged to go with the decision of the majority.

“We have to recognise that for a number of people are bound by a decision they didn’t vote for,.”

Mr Verhofstadt went on: “We will not, as I have said from day one, interfere in the institutional debate in Britain, that’s not our job, that’s your job.”

Reminded by Ms Cherry about comments where he said there was “no great obstacle” to an independent Scotland joining the EU, Mr Verhofstadt replied: “I said that? I don’t remember a tweet about it... I will never ask a negotiator or coordinator for the European Parliament to intervene in the institutional set up of any of the countries involved.”

However, giving evidence to a different Commons committee later on, the former Belgian Prime Minister did say Scotland would be welcomed back into the bloc.