NICOLA Sturgeon would be happy to join an all-women emergency Cabinet in an attempt to block a no-deal Brexit, she has told ITV's Loose Women.
The Scottish First Minister was asked about Caroline Lucas' suggestion of forming a female-only leadership team opposed to Brexit.
The Brighton Pavillion MP has proposed forming a Cabinet of senior cross-party female MPs if Parliament passes a motion of no confidence in Boris Johnson's Government to call for a referendum on whether to leave the EU.
Sturgeon revealed she has responded to the Green MP's invitation.
She said: "I'm happy to work with anybody – male or female, I have to say – to try to stop Brexit, in particular to try to avoid a No-Deal Brexit, which I think would be really, really damaging.
"I'm all for more women in politics, I think we can bring a different perspective.
"But I do feel duty-bound to point out the former prime minister was a woman and didn't manage to sort out Brexit so there's maybe a flaw in that somewhere."
Describing Lucas as "a fantastic MP", the SNP leader added: "I'm more than happy to band together with a bunch of other women."
Lucas has also written to Labour's Emily Thornberry and Yvette Cooper, LibDem leader Jo Swinson, the former Conservative Cabinet minister Justine Greening, Change UK MP Anna Soubry, independent MP Heidi Allen, the SNP's Kirsty Blackman, the independent Northern Irish MP Sylvia Hermon and Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts.
The proposal sparked some backlash for not including any black or ethnic minority women in her hypothetical Cabinet.
Lucas responded to the accusation on Twitter, saying: "The list of women came about because they comprise the leadership/deputy leadership of the relevant parties/groupings/nations of the UK.
"But ... it absolutely needs to be opened out further eg would love Diane Abbott to be involved."
During her appearing on the daytime chat show, Sturgeon was asked whether women make better politicians.
She said: I'm generalising here, but women can be a bit more empathetic, more willing to listen and less [tribal] ... it doesn't always work that way, my political opponents say that might not be the case all the time with me.
"Women do bring out a different approach to politics and if we have more women, we're seeing more women in politics, it might change the overall tone."
Asked about the new Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Sturgeon said: "Boris and I are not very alike.
"It's not just men, I don't want it to sound like I'm having a go at men all the time, Boris just talks nonsense but he has that swagger and confidence and conviction.
"Despite the swagger, it's still nonsense."
She described Johnson's predecessor Theresa May as "very, very scripted", adding: "When you were talking to her in private, it was the same approach she took, she very rarely departed from the script in front of her.
"Fair play to her, that's how she wanted to do business, but it could be really difficult and frustrating if you were trying to get into a discussion about how we, notwithstanding the big differences between us, might try to find a common ground."
Sturgeon was also asked about impostor syndrome – doubting your achievements.
She said: "The most confident looking of people have their moments of self-doubt. And self-doubt is a good thing.
"It's the people who don't suffer from self-doubt who should never be allowed within a million miles of political leadership - talking about nobody in particular."
In light of Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth's apparent marriage break-up, the First Minister also gave some advice about returning to an ex.
She said: "I don't know that there's an absolute yes or no answer to that.
"My philosophy in life tends to be keep moving forward, try not to look back, try not to have regrets.
"It depends on circumstance, it depends on different factors at play and depends on what you're talking about.
"In relationships, it's not something I've done. It depends, if you broke up in the first place, unless you really resolve that, perhaps you're going to repeat the same mistakes over again."
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel