Sturgeon holds out hopes of keeping the United Kingdom in EU
The option of revoking Article 50 and keeping the UK in the EU is “not off the table”, Nicola Sturgeon has said as she claimed Theresa May was “effectively out of power”.
The First Minister said the SNP would push for Brexit to be halted by revoking Article 50 to avoid a no-deal exit.
With “indicative votes” on Brexit alternatives set to be held in the House of Commons, Ms Sturgeon said a single market and customs union deal to leave the EU was “not our first preference”.
“At the moment, I think the option of remaining is not off the table and it’s not beyond the bounds of possibility by any stretch of the imagination,”
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she said. “So as long as our first preference remains an option, that’s what the SNP will back.”
Speaking to the BBC’S Andrew Marr Show shortly before joining a one millionstrong march through London for a second EU referendum on Saturday, Ms Sturgeon also backed a so-called People’s Vote.
“The government has absolutely failed to deliver on the result of the 2016 referendum. They have no credible way forward now and when parliament and government fails, it seems to me that the only sensible thing to do is put the people back in charge.”
Reports suggest that the Prime Minister could be ousted by her cabinet as soon as today with Conservative MPS in open revolt over plans for indicative votes and a deal to delay Brexit by at least two weeks.
“I’m telling her to go,” Ms Sturgeon said. “I think she’s been part of the problem for some considerable time.
“I think if we were in any normal period in British politics, she would be long gone.”
The First Minister added: “I think she is effectively out of power right now, and I think debating her position is becoming more and more incidental by the day.
“What’s important now is that the House of Commons seizes control, and does so next week.”
Ms Sturgeon did not clarify when she would set out plans for a second Scottish independence referendum, which have been promised for the past six months.
“I think another Scottish independence referendum is going to happen,” Ms Sturgeon continued.
“Before I set out a path forward for Scotland I think it’s reasonable for me know what the starting point for that journey is going to be, and the context in which we’re going to be embarking on it.
“But the experience of the last three years, Scotland’s vote ignored, the voice of the Scottish Parliament ignored... that really does make the case for independence very, very powerfully.”
Scottish Conservative constitution spokesman Adam Tomkins said the First Minister’s support for a second EU referendum and her appearance at the march in London was a “scam”.
“She wasn’t there because she cares about the UK leaving the EU, or to try and influence proceedings in coming days,” Mr Tomkins said. “She was there to agitate for a second independence referendum, and to set Scotland up for even more years of division.”