FIRST Minister Nicola Sturgeon has issued her response, after Theresa May's latest Brexit deal offer was rejected by MPs.
The House of Commons rejected the Prime Minister's proposals by a margin of 149 votes.
Responding to the result, Sturgeon said: “The Prime Minister and the UK Government should be hanging their heads in shame this evening. Tonight’s outcome was entirely predictable, and if they had been prepared to listen at any stage and engage constructively instead of simply pandering to Brexit extremists, they could have avoided it.
“Instead, we now have a government that has effectively ceased to function and a country that remains poised on a cliff edge.
“Now that the Prime Minister’s deal has been resoundingly defeated for a second time, what is abundantly clear is that the UK Government and Parliament have been unable to turn the result of the 2016 referendum into a workable or deliverable plan to leave the European Union.
“The votes now scheduled for the coming days will now give Parliament the chance to definitively reject the catastrophe of No-Deal and to allow for more time for a sensible way forward to be found – but the Prime Minister should definitively rule out No-Deal, instead of offering a free vote on the issue.
“Ruling out ‘No Deal’ and extending Article 50 would stop the clock on Brexit and enable another referendum on EU membership to be held. We will support any such referendum, provided it has the option to remain in the EU on the ballot paper.
“Scotland’s needs and voice have been ignored by the UK Government throughout the Brexit process, and today a handful of DUP MPs held more sway over Scotland’s future than our own national Parliament – that demonstrates more clearly than ever that the case for Scotland becoming an independent country has never been stronger. We will continue to stand up for Scotland and to reflect our nation’s overwhelming vote to remain in the EU.”
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