Nicola Sturgeon has given an insight into her meeting with Theresa May during First Minister's questions.
In a meeting with the Prime Minister, Nicola Sturgeon said she reiterated the Scottish Government’s willingness to consider proposals for a soft Brexit and urged Theresa May how she would compromise to rule out a no-deal “once and for all”.
Addressing the Scottish Parliament, the First Minister said that all Theresa May offered was an explanation of why her deal “was actually the best one”
Speaking about the meeting with Mrs May, Nicola Sturgeon said: “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.
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“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.”
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.
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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?”
The First Minister confirmed that the committee would meet again 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.
“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.
This story was originally reported in The National
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