Scotland threatens to leave UK if forced out of single market

LONDON: Scotland will hold a new referendum on separation from the UK unless it can stay in the European Union single market, Nicola Sturgeon will warn this week, adding to the pressure on Theresa May as the UK prime minister draws up plans for Brexit.

Scottish First Minister Sturgeon will detail proposals for a new arrangement with the UK to enable her country to remain inside the single market area after Brexit, even if the London government pulls England out. Voters in Scotland chose to stay in the EU in June’s referendum and now face being pulled out against their wishes by votes cast in England, she said in a commentary published in the Financial Times.

“It remains my view, and that of the government I lead, that the best option for Scotland remains full membership of the EU as an independent member state,” Sturgeon said. “Independence must remain an option for safeguarding our European status, if it becomes clear that our interests cannot be protected in any other way.”

The ultimatum from Edinburgh on single-market membership will intensify the strain on May, who’s already battling to contain tensions within her own Conservative Party.