FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon is to publish proposals for a special Brexit deal for Scotland next Tuesday.

The detailed options paper has been in the works since the UK voted to leave the EU in June.

With 62 per cent of Scots voting to remain, the First Minister has said it’s important Scotland deserves some form of recognition and has argued that the UK Government have no mandate to take the UK out of the single market.

It’s widely expect the Scottish Government’s plans will be along the Norwegian model, with Scotland remaining in the European Free Trade Area, as a member of the single market, even if the UK opts out.

It would mean the UK Government having to devolve tailored immigration powers, which is unlikely, although earlier this week Secretary of State for Scotland David Mundell indicated that there could be a “differential arrangement for Scotland if it can be factually shown that there is a benefit to Scotland from doing that, not just an ideological view that Scotland should somehow be different”.

Earlier in the month during a visit to Edinburgh, Chancellor Philip Hammond had said any deal negotiated would be for the whole of Britain. “This is a United Kingdom issue and the will of the people of the United Kingdom was to leave,” he told reporters shortly before holding talks with Sturgeon. “We’re clear that we can’t have a different deal or a different outcome for different parts of the United Kingdom.”

Meanwhile, the chief European Brexit negotiator has reportedly warned that Britain would still have to pay £50 billion for outstanding liabilities when it leaves the EU.

Reports suggest the European Commission’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier is touting the figure during his tour of EU capitals, and, according to Sky News, this figure has already been mentioned to Brussels-based diplomats.

The calculation is based on the UK’s obligation to pay into the EU Budget until the end of 2020, as it has signed up to the multi-annual financial framework. There will also be costs associated with outstanding pensions liabilities and loan guarantees.

Questioned about the huge amounts, the Czech Republic’s Europe minister Tomas Prouza told Sky News: “I understand why the Eurosceptics call it an exit fee.

“We’re talking about payments to the existing budget that the UK already voted for, pensions of British citizens working at the EU.

“This is only things the UK has already committed itself to paying.”

Theresa May found herself isolated at the EU summit in Brussels yesterday, with the prime minister being the only European leader not invited to talks at dinner.

Though she had met earlier with the other 27 leaders to discuss the refugee crisis, sanctions on Russia over ceasefire violations in eastern Ukraine and plans to boost EU defences, the informal evening Brexit session took place without her.

As she arrived in Brussels, the Prime Minister told reporters she wasn’t miffed at being left out of the dinner: “I welcome the fact that the other leaders will be meeting to discuss Brexit tonight.

“As we are going to invoke Article 50 by the end of March next year, it’s right that the other leaders prepare for those negotiations as we have been preparing.”

Earlier in the day, May had met with negotiators from the European parliament, who told her to prepare for “complexities and difficulties”.

This followed on from reports that the UK’s ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers, had told May that European politicians believed Brexit could take up to ten years.

Downing Street insisted the Government believes two years will be enough.

“The intention is that we will have a deal within the time frame we have set out, which sees us exit the EU and allows us to trade with and operate within the single market,” said a Number 10 spokesman.