MIKE Russell, the Scottish Government’s minister for negotiations on leaving the EU, has said Scotland’s position on Brexit will be put “straight and clear” to the UK Government on Thursday when the document, Scotland’s Place in Europe, will be discussed by the Joint Ministerial Committee set up to negotiate over Brexit.

He dismissed as “noise” the comments sourced to Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond in newspapers yesterday that she would be calling for “national unity” in the face of Brexit while Hammond had threatened to make the UK something of a tax haven.

Russell told The National: “The best way to treat all this noise is to be very straight and clear about what we have asked for, what we believe is right, and it’s in the Scotland’s Place in Europe paper and that’s what we will be going with.”

Parts of May’s speech to international diplomats tomorrow was judiciously leaked to Tory-friendly newspapers yesterday.

Sources close to May said she would be prepared to have a hard Brexit, leave the EU customs union, regain full control of borders and cease to be subject to the rulings of the European Court of Justice. She was quoted as being expected to say: “One of the reasons that Britain’s democracy has been such a success for so many years is that the strength of our identity as one nation, the respect we show to one another as fellow citizens, and the importance we attach to our institutions means that when a vote has been held we all respect the result.

“The victors have the responsibility to act magnanimously. The losers have the responsibility to respect the legitimacy of the result.

“And the country comes together.

“Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it – leaver and remainer and all the accompanying insults – and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly global Britain.”

Russell retorted: “None of what is being said has been trailed in any detail with us beforehand, even though we have the Joint Ministerial Committee on Thursday.

“It is all being put out to the press instead of to the forum which we have accepted even though it is not our preferred forum.

“We are taking our paper [Scotland’s Place in Europe] there on Thursday so let’s have a proper discussion there rather than all this hinting to newspapers.”

Chancellor Hammond gave an interview to a German newspaper in which he said more about Brexit than he has said to Parliament.

Asked if the UK would become a tax haven, Hammond said: “We could be forced to change our economic model, and we will have to change our model to regain competitiveness. And you can be sure we will do whatever we have to do.”

Russell had a strong response to Hammond’s statements, saying: “There has been a lot of speculation that the only way to make the UK economy into the type of economy that they are talking about is by cutting terms and conditions for workers, destroying social protection and cutting taxes.

“That’s not the type of country we want to live in and we have to make that very clear.”

Russell continued by asking that May and her Government give due heed to Scotland’s Place in Europe when it is discussed on Thursday.

He said: “She made a commitment last year she would look at the options and listen to Scotland and the other devolved nations.

“We have put the right proposals to her and we want to see her reaction to those.

“She can make choices for the rest of the UK if she wants to, but as far as Scotland is concerned the plan is there and we are looking for a sensible reaction to it.

“It’s not as if we don’t know what we want, it’s not as if we haven’t worked it out – it’s all in there and we are happy to negotiate on it and discuss it.”

Russell’s renewed attack on the UK Government followed his remarks yesterday in which he called for other parties to support the Scottish Government in the Holyrood debate on Brexit tomorrow. He said: “The Tories are continuing to push a hard Brexit as a good thing in the face of all of the evidence to the contrary – and, despite her previous support for remaining in the EU and in the single market, Ruth Davidson has fallen right into line. Indeed, she is pushing harder than many others, in order to curry favour with the new prime minister.

“It’s time to call this Tory fake news out for what it is. The Leave campaign won the EU referendum in England by running a campaign that even some Tories admit was based on a lie.

“What we need to hear from Theresa May this week is a clear recognition that leaving the single market would be disastrous for jobs and the economy – and a commitment to work with the Scottish Government to respect the wishes of the people of Scotland.”