SCOTLAND’S interests could risk being jeopardised by a “Better Together Brexit,” senior figures in the SNP have claimed.
The warnings from Nicola Sturgeon and her deputy Keith Brown, came as Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May held “constructive” talks on finding a Brexit compromise.
The two met yesterday afternoon after the Prime Minister’s unexpected and dramatic decision on Tuesday night to propose a Labour-Tory “joint plan,” paving the way for a softer Brexit, that would allow her to get her deal through Parliament.
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SNP politicians fear that despite being the third largest party in the Commons they’ve been sidelined with the Tory leader focusing on doing just enough to win Labour votes.
“The last thing Scotland needs is a Better Together Brexit,” Brown tweeted.
One area of common ground for May and Corbyn is that both leaders pledged in their 2017 election to end freedom of movement.
Any deal reached between the two that ends the right of citizens of the EU to move, work and live in Scotland will not get the support of the SNP.
Yesterday, Sturgeon said: “Freedom of movement is a big issue for Scotland that I appreciate is not always easy for politicians to address and perhaps is not the same issue in other parts of the UK.
“But the Scottish economy needs to have the ability to attract workers to come from across Europe.”
The Commons must pass any agreement before April 10, to allow the Prime Minister to take a proposal to the EU by April 12.
But the only thing May can compromise on is the political declaration, that sets out what the future, post-Brexit relationship between the UK and the EU would look like.
Any agreement Labour sign up to will keep her Withdrawal Agreement, including the controversial backstop.
If she and Corbyn fail to reach an agreement, May has said a number of options would be put to MPs “to determine which course to pursue”.
Whatever happens, May has said she would ask the EU for a further short extension until 22 May.
May’s decision to work with Corbyn has infuriated Brexiteers on her own benches, and led to two ministers leaving government.
Talks between Labour and the Tories are due to continue today.
During yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, May told MPs that the purpose of her meeting with Corbyn was “to look at those areas we agree on”.
“I think we both want to deliver leaving the EU with a deal,” she said. “I think we both want to protect jobs. I think we both want to ensure that we end free movement. I think we both recognise the importance of the Withdrawal Agreement.
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“What we want to do now is find a way forward that can command the support of this House and deliver on Brexit, deliver on the result of the referendum and ensure that people can continue to have trust in their politicians doing what they ask us to do.”
Corbyn said he welcomed May’s “willingness to compromise to resolve the Brexit deadlock”.
After meeting with Corbyn, the Prime Minister met separately with the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales.
Sturgeon told press she came out of the meeting not much clearer on where the Prime Minister is “prepared to give ground”.
“My concern is that in the rush to reach some compromise, with the clock ticking, what will happen over the next few days, if anything happens over the next few days, is that a bad compromise will be reached.”
She added: “People will very quickly heave a sigh of relief that some agreement has been reached but then very quickly realise that it’s not in the interests of the UK, it will satisfy no-one and of course be open to be unpicked by a prime minister that is not Theresa May, perhaps somebody like Boris Johnson.“
Asked what she would do if she was in Corbyn’s position, Sturgeon replied: “I’d be pretty wary that I wasn’t falling into the trap of becoming the handmaiden of a Tory Brexit.”
Sturgeon said she hoped “Labour doesn’t sell out here for a bad deal.”
She also Corbyn should insist that whatever compromise passed through the House of Commons went “back to the electorate in another vote”.
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