Nicola Sturgeon has called on Theresa May to pause the Brexit negotiations to build a new cross-party, “four-nation” consensus on the UK’s approach.
The first minister said the general election result had left the UK government so unstable and weak that it was vital May sought the support of devolved governments and opposition parties to agree a common position before the talks with the EU, due to begin next week.
“The Tories’ hard Brexit plan has been rejected and we cannot allow the Brexit negotiations to become hostage to the inability of either the Tories or Labour to command a clear majority,” Sturgeon said.
“It is imperative that we now build a cross-party, all-government approach to Brexit that will protect all of our interests at this highly uncertain time. The strongest possible position in the Brexit negotiations will be one that is backed by all parties and all governments across the UK.”
Sturgeon’s call came as the European commission’s chief negotiator warned that Britain risks crashing out of the EU with no deal if it wastes any more time.
Michel Barnier urged May to “very quickly” start talks and appoint a negotiating team that is “stable, accountable and with a mandate” with the clock ticking to 29 March 2019, when the UK is expected to leave after the two-year article 50 process.
“Next week, it will be three months after the sending of the article 50 letter,” Barnier told the Financial Times. “We haven’t negotiated, we haven’t progressed … It will take months to draw out the conditions of an orderly withdrawal. Let’s not waste time.”
Sturgeon flew to London on Monday morning to meet her reduced group of 35 Scottish National party MPs at Westminster. The SNP lost 21 seats and held others with wafer-thin majorities, but it remains the third largest party at Westminster and could wield considerable influence in critical votes on Brexit and other policy areas.
Sturgeon has admitted last Thursday’s result, in which the SNP lost 480,000 votes Scotland-wide, raised substantial questions about her quest for a second independence referendum, and she is anxious to reassert herself and underline her party’s relevance.
She said all of Scotland’s political leaders had endorsed her call for a softer Brexit that put heavy emphasis on access to the single market. Sturgeon said the aims ought also to include remaining a member of the customs union and guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens.
Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, loyally supported May’s tougher stance on the UK’s Brexit position before the election, but has now stressed the need for the UK to seek “the freest trade possible” and an “open Brexit, not a closed one, which puts our country’s economic growth first”.
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, campaigned before the election for the UK to guarantee EU citizens’ rights, but John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, confirmed on Sunday that Labour did not agree with attempting to retain membership of the single market after Brexit.
That suggests the SNP and Labour will struggle to agree a comprehensive shared agenda on Brexit at Westminster, despite renewed overtures from the SNP at the weekend for an anti-Tory alliance.
Sturgeon said the UK government should reconvene a joint ministerial committee involving all three devolved governments in Edinburgh, Belfast and Cardiff, and set up an advisory groupinvolving Sinn Féin to agree an all-party, all-government negotiating position.
The SNP will decide on the selection of a new group leader in the Commons during the Westminster meeting. Angus Robertson, who was the party’s Westminster group leader and was a star performer during prime minister’s questions, lost his seat to the Tories last Thursday but remains SNP deputy leader until he decides to stand down.