A hard Brexit is “off the table,” Nicola Sturgeon has insisted, as she said the General Election result meant that the issue of the UK leaving the EU could not “continue to be cooked up by a Tory cabal” but had to be opened up to more voices.
The First Minister’s intervention came within minutes of No 10 brushing aside her call for a new cross-party "four nation" approach to the forthcoming Brexit negotiations.
Read more: May's government accused of being "in chaos" at prospect of delay to Queen's Speech due to DUP talks
Theresa May’s spokesman, asked if the Prime Minister thought Ms Sturgeon’s proposal was a good one, replied: “We gave a commitment right at the very outset of this process to consult with the devolved administrations and that remains the case."
The FM wants membership of the European single market and the customs union to be "at the heart" of a new way forward, with the rights of EU nationals living in the UK guaranteed with immediate effect.
But when asked if there would be any change to the Tory administration’s approach to Brexit, the PM’s spokesman made clear that the UK Government would continue to seek to secure the best possible deal for the whole of the UK, adding there was “no change to these plans”.
Read more: May's government accused of being "in chaos" at prospect of delay to Queen's Speech due to DUP talks
The spokesman made clear there would be “discussions in cabinet” but noted how David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, had set out the Government’s plans clearly and “there would be no change to those”.
Asked if Mrs May was open to changes to the Brexit strategy, he added: “Our position has been set out and that is where we are.”
After a photocall for the SNP’s 35 MPs at Westminster, Ms Sturgeon said the UK Government’s approach to Brexit could no longer stand.
“The process should be opened up to more voices, a cross-party, four nation approach and that approach must be centred on retaining our position in the single market. As the third biggest party, these are the priorities these MPs are going to get to work on.”
Read more: May's government accused of being "in chaos" at prospect of delay to Queen's Speech due to DUP talks
But when it was pointed out how Mrs May had already dismissed her suggestion for a “four nation” approach to the Brexit talks, the SNP leader replied: “No 10 has been behaving to the bemusement of everybody across the country as if nothing has changed in the election; everything has changed.
“It’s no longer acceptable for the Prime Minister and the Government to try to operate the way they were doing before the election. They asked for a mandate for a hard Brexit and they failed to get that mandate. So hard Brexit is now off the table and has to be off the table.”
She went on: “The idea that Brexit can continue to be cooked up by a Tory cabal is not acceptable. There have to be more voices involved and there has to be a fundamentally different approach and as the third biggest party in the House of Commons that’s what these MPs will be working to secure.”
Read more: May's government accused of being "in chaos" at prospect of delay to Queen's Speech due to DUP talks
Asked, if hard Brexit was off the table, why should not a second independence poll be too, Ms Sturgeon replied: “I understand the frustrations that journalists have when politicians decide to take some time to consider and to reflect but that’s the right thing to do.
“I have heard lots of analysis of the election results; some of them I agree with, some of them I don’t agree with. Many of them are overly simplistic. I’m going to take time, I’m going to reflect, I’m going to discuss with colleagues not just here with the Westminster Group but in Holyrood and across the SNP.”
She added: “When I’m ready to set out my views, that are based on what is right for the country…We are in a radically different situation, particularly around Brexit now, and all of us have to reflect on that as wider considerations; that’s exactly what I’m going to do…”
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