Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon will tomorrow meet with EU leaders as she seeks to preserve Scotland’s single market access
Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon is to travel to Brussels tomorrow to meet with officials from European Parliament, including its president Martin Schulz.
Speaking today in the Scottish parliament, Sturgeon said that she hoped to preserve Scotland's access to the single market, adding the she would also seek to set out her case to the European Commission.
“I am determined, utterly determined to protect Scotland's relation with, and our place in, the European Union," she said.
Sturgeon maintained that the move was not an attempt to move Scotland towards independence.
“My starting point is to protect Scotland's interest and protect our relationship with the EU,” she said.
However, Sturgeon re-iterated that legislation for a second referendum vote is being prepared in order to allow the government to move quickly, if necessary.
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Responding to Sturgeon, Ruth Davidson argued that within hours of Friday's Brexit verdict, the Scottish government had pushed forward questions of independence.
“In the days since the result, it feels to many people across Scotland, that the SNP is talking about nothing about independence,” Davidson said.
“You do not dampen the shockwaves caused by one referendum by lighting the fuse for another.
“Nor by saying that the economic impact of leaving one union means you should sever ties with a greater union, whose value in trade eclipses the former many times over.”