New UK prime minister Theresa May will have Brexit talks with Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon in Scotland today.
It will be May’s first visit as Britain’s new prime minister, and she will be expected to stress Scotland’s continued unity with UK.
May took office on Wednesday after David Cameron stepped down as premier in the wake of the June 23 referendum.
On Thursday, she completed a radical cabinet reshuffle, culling several of Cameron’s ministers after stunning world capitals by appointing the often undiplomatic Brexit spearhead Boris Johnson as foreign minister.
The referendum result sent shockwaves around the world and sparked fears of an economic downturn, with Britain potentially facing exclusion from Europe’s single market—a key concern for Sturgeon.
Sturgeon said on Wednesday she wanted incoming May to enable the Scottish government to explore options for Scotland to remain in the European Union as part of the overall Brexit process.
Scotland voted to remain in the EU by a large majority, but the United Kingdom as a whole voted to leave, and Sturgeon has repeatedly said she wanted to explore all possible options for Scotland to stay in the bloc despite the overall result.
“I will want to get a very firm assurance from Theresa May that Scotland, the Scottish government, will be centrally involved in the process that will now take shape,” Sturgeon told BBC
television shortly before May was due to take office.
“I want to be able to examine options for keeping us in the European Union and I’ll be looking for a commitment from Theresa May that the process that she will now take forward will enable that to happen.
