THE First Minister has urged Theresa May to explain how she is willing to compromise on her Brexit agreement in a bid to ensure that a no-deal withdrawal is ruled out “once and for all”.
Speaking during First Minister’s questions, Nicola Sturgeon said that in a meeting with the Prime Minister on Wednesday she had reiterated the Scottish Government’s willingness to consider proposals for a soft Brexit.
READ MORE: First Minister to unveil campaign to persuade EU citizens to remain
All May offered, however, was an explanation of why her deal “was actually the best one”, according to Sturgeon.
The First Minister also revealed that she had a “very constructive” meeting with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Sturgeon’s remarks came after Richard Leonard asked for an update on the Scottish Government’s Resilience Committee, which is making preparations for the scenario in which the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
He said: “The First Minister has announced that she does not believe that Prime Minister is ready to give ground on her Brexit deal. The Labour Party also continues to vehemently oppose a no-deal Brexit.
“And today we have returned, in good faith, to make concerted efforts to avoid that no-deal Brexit. But there is no escaping the fact that, thanks to Theresa May and the Tories, we are now facing the cliff edge of a no-deal Brexit.
“So can the First Minister update Parliament and the country on her Government’s Resilience Committee’s plans in the event of a no-deal Brexit next week?”
Sturgeon confirmed that the committee would meet again this afternoon – a meeting the FM will chair – and was working “as far as we possibly can” mitigate the impact of a no-deal Brexit.
“I’ll be very candid with the chamber, no matter how much planning or contingency work we do, it will not be possible to mitigate every impact of a no-deal Brexit should that happen, which is why it’s so important all of us work to avoid that scenario arising,” Sturgeon said before reflecting on her talks with the Labour and Tory leaders.
“Yesterday in Westminster I had, firstly, a very constructive meeting with Jeremy Corbyn and I also met with the Prime Minister,” Sturgeon said.
READ MORE: May and Corbyn no closer to Brexit deal after two days of talks
“In the meeting with the Prime Minister I set out to her again the Scottish Government’s single market-customs union compromise – that’s not our first preference but I said I was willing to look at, with the Prime Minister, where there might be issues of agreement around that.”
The First Minister also said that the Scottish Government was eager to address concerns it has about the impact of the Tories’ Brexit strategy and immigration policies on Scotland.
The response from May, however, suggested to Sturgeon that the Tory chief remained unwilling to budge on her deal.
“All I really got in return from the Prime Minister was the reasons why she didn’t agree with me on these things and why her deal was actually the best one,” Sturgeon said.
“So, she wants to know where the rest of us are willing to compromise, but I got no sense from her at any stage at all yesterday of where she is willing to compromise. And I think from what I read after his meeting with her, Jeremy Corbyn and his colleagues got pretty much the same impression.”
The First Minister added: “So if the Prime Minister wants to find a compromise, it’s time she set out where she is willing to compromise. And it’s also time that everybody across the House of Commons unites behind the initiatives, like Joanna Cherry’s motion earlier this week, to make sure we take the risk of a no-deal Brexit away once and for all and forever.”
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