NICOLA Sturgeon has lashed out after Theresa May’s de facto deputy revealed she refused to meet with him to discuss the Brexit divorce deal.

Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington said a requested meeting with Scottish ministers had been declined.

But the claim sparked a furious reaction from the First Minister, who insisted she had been given short notice and was “not clear” on the purpose of the talks.

She wrote on Twitter: “This is outrageous. My office got a call around 6pm last night to offer a meeting this morning – purpose not clear.

“I wasn’t prepared to cancel my constituency commitments at such short notice for the Scottish Government to yet again have to hear empty platitudes rather than be listened to.”

Ms Sturgeon has repeatedly condemned UK ministers for ignoring Scotland’s interests in the Brexit process.

Scottish Labour’s Brexit spokesman Neil Findlay insisted it is “vital that both governments are ready to engage even at the shortest of notice”.

He said: "We cannot have the First Minister and senior Ministers from what’s left of the UK government adopting the posture of spoilt children. Rather engaging in petty point scoring they should be working to get the best deal for the country."

Mr Lidington was visiting Edinburgh to sell Mrs May’s Brexit deal to Scottish businesses and the financial sector.

Speaking to journalists, he hit out at hard-line Brexiteers and launched a heartfelt defence of the Prime Minister’s “resilience and strength of character” as her leadership teeters on the brink.

He insisted Tory rebels plotting her downfall “haven’t got a better alternative plan available” and should rally behind her in the national interest.

He also challenged Nicola Sturgeon to put “living standards and prosperity in Scotland first” and back Mrs May’s draft Brexit divorce deal, insisting EU leaders had made clear there is no appetite for renegotiation.

He said: “I think there will be an important choice for the Scottish Government and for Scottish members of parliament at Westminster.

“Employers in all sectors want a deal, and they want the stability and the certainty and the clarity that that will bring.

“And I hope very much that, despite the political differences that do exist, and which I respect, that the First Minister will in the end decide to put the interests of Scottish business and living standards and prosperity in Scotland first and support this deal."

It came after Ms Sturgeon said European leaders could be willing to renegotiate a Brexit deal to keep the UK in the single market if Theresa May fails to get her draft agreement through the House of Commons.

But key EU figures such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel have insisted there is "no question" of reopening talks.

Meanwhile, The Herald understands that the call by Ms Sturgeon and her Welsh counterpart Carwyn Jones for an emergency plenary meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee next week, chaired by Mrs May, will be rebuffed.

Instead, it is thought that a regular meeting of the JMC-EN, which considers the Brexit process, is being pencilled in for Monday.