MSPs voted 86 to 36 to support the Scottish Government’s proposals to keep Scotland in the single market.

A debate in Holyrood came just hours after Theresa May indicated the country was heading for a hard Brexit. Opening the debate. External Affairs Secretary Fiona Hyslop urged the MSPs to “stand up for Scotland’s interests”.

She said: “If our attempts at agreeing a compromise are rejected, then it is vital that we continue to have other options available to us, including that of a referendum on independence.

“If the hard right of the Tory Party, which is driving the UK debate, can drive Scotland not only out of the EU but out of the single market as well, it will start to believe it can do anything to Scotland and get away with it.

“Scotland will not be silenced by a right-wing Tory Government which is intent on riding roughshod over our vital national interest and the democratic voice of the Scottish people. It is time to stand up for the interests of Scotland.”

The proposals will be presented at tomorrow’s meeting of the Joint Ministerial Committee on EU negotiations, she added.

The Tories and the LibDems voted against the Government, saying the proposals would not work and would ultimately result in another independence referendum.

Labour supported the Government, after their amendment to the SNP’s motion was passed, but restated their belief that the UK single market is more important to Scotland than the EU single market.

Tory MSP Dean Lockhart said the Scottish Government’s plans a for Norwegian-style deal that would keep Scotland in the single market after the rest of the UK leaves were highly unlikely.

“Members of the First Minister’s own standing council of experts have said the proposals would be highly unlikely and extremely difficult to implement. We share these concerns.

“On this side of the chamber, we encourage the Scottish Government to work closely with the rest of the UK and use the full strength of the UK’s bargaining position to get the best deal for Scotland.”

The Scottish Government’s plans, Lockhart said, had the word indep-endence in them 11 times.

He added: “It is time for the SNP to stop using this paper as a European version of the White Paper on independence, listen to the people and rule out another referendum.”

Labour’s Lewis Macdonald outlined why his party were backing the Government: “Our starting point is that we acknowledge the benefits that Scotland and Britain have derived from membership of the European single market, but we know that the single market of the UK is even more important to our interests.”

Green MSP Ross Greer said: “Theresa May would have to depart far from today’s speech to get even halfway towards the proposals from the Scottish Government, which we in the Greens had already seen as the limits of reasonable compromise.”

It was at times, a fiery debate, with SNP MSP Keith Brown, accusing “the right-wing Brexiteer” Tories of “reaching far beyond Margaret Thatcher”.