The Prime Minister has brushed aside suggestions that Scotland could stay in the EU, saying the “best possible deal for the United Kingdom … will also be the best possible deal for Scotland”.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has travelled to Brussels to meet European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker in a bid to negotiate a deal to protect Scotland’s interests after the country voted overwhelmingly against Brexit.
Questioned by the SNP’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson about what the British Government is doing to “protect Scotland’s place in Europe”, David Cameron insisted the interests of Scotland and the UK are one and the same.
Speaking during the first PMQs since the EU referendum, Mr Cameron said: “On the issue of the United Kingdom’s future and our relationship with the European Union, we need to negotiate the best possible deal for the United Kingdom and the closest possible relationship, and that will also be the best possible deal for Scotland.
“That is what we need to focus on, that is what needs to be done.”
His remarks were met with jeers and head shaking by SNP MPs, and Mr Robertson said: “On the contrary, the Prime Minister is wrong on that issue.”
He said all political parties in Scotland apart from the Conservatives united in passing a motion mandating the Scottish administration to negotiate with the EU, member states and other devolved administrations to protect the nation’s place in Europe.
But the PM reiterated his remarks and stressed that Scotland’s best chance of maintaining access to the single market was for the UK to negotiate the best deal.
He said: “The best way to secure Scotland’s place in the single market is for the United Kingdom to negotiate the closest possible relationship with the European Union, including in my view, the closest relationship with the single market.”
The Brexit vote has been hugely unpopular in Scotland and raised the prospect of another independence referendum north of the border, potentially plunging the UK into a fresh constitutional crisis.
But Mr Cameron stressed that keeping the United Kingdom together was a “paramount national interest”.
Replying to DUP MP Jim Shannon (Strangford), the PM said: “Keeping the United Kingdom together is an absolute paramount national interest for our country.
“Because of the decision that’s been made about Europe we need to have exhaustive conversations between officials in Whitehall and in Northern Ireland and very strong relations with the Republic of Ireland so we keep the benefits of the common travel area,” he said.
