Nicola Sturgeon snubbed by top Brussels boss Donald Tusk as she fights to keep Scotland in EU
European Council president turns down her invitation for talks but Scotland's First Minister insists every option is still on the table
NICOLA Sturgeon was dealt a huge snub by EU council president Donald Tusk tonight when he refused to meet her to discuss Scotland’s future in the EU.
After making much of a showy trip to Brussels for meetings with EU leaders tomorrow, Scotland’s First Minister was left red-faced when the EU heavyweight snubbed her offer.
It came as Ms Sturgeon insisted “every option” remained on the table to help keep Scotland in the EU “including a second independence referendum”
But she was slammed by Scots Tory leader Ruth Davidson who called her out for wasting time “trying once again to break up Britain.
The feisty Scots Conservative told Scotland’s First Minister “you do not dampen the shockwaves caused by one referendum by lighting the fuse for another”.
And she reminded Ms Sturgeon two million Scots voted to save the Union in 2014 compared to only 1.66m who voted Remain in last week’s historic vote.
One million Scots also voted for Brexit – despite the 62 per cent to 48 per cent vote overall for Remain.
Ms Davidson said: “I cannot ignore the fact that, within hours of the vote becoming clear on Friday morning, the Scottish Government had pushed questions of independence front and centre.
“I’ve heard the First Minister telling us that this motion today is nothing to do with independence.
“And yet, in the days since the result last week, it feels to many people across Scotland that the SNP is talking about nothing but independence, and has done so again today.”
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Ms Davidson said she was “duty-bound” to speak up for the many people in Scotland who are “deeply worried” about the prospect of another Indy referendum.
She added: “You do not dampen the shockwaves caused by one referendum by lighting the fuse for another.
“Nor by saying that the economic impact of leaving one Union means you should sever ties with a greater Union whose value in trade eclipses the former many times over.”
In a heated emergency debate in the Scottish Parliament Ms Sturgeon confirmed she would propose a second vote for Scottish independence if the Scottish Government decides it’s “the best or only way to protect Scotland’s place in the EU”.
She confirmed she had set up a panel of experts to advise on how to keep Scotland in the EU.
It followed a statement from the SNP’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson who told MPs yesterday they would fight to keep Scotland a member of the EU.
He said: “We have no intention whatsoever of seeing Scotland taken out of Europe. That would be totally, totally democratically unacceptable. We are a European country and we will stay a European country.”
But Mr Cameron told him: “Scotland benefits from being in two single markets: the UK and the European single market.
“The best outcome for Scotland would be to remain in both.”
But ex Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt said there was “no big obstacle” to an independent Scotland joining the EU pre-Brexit.
Nicola Sturgeon will fly to Brussels on Wednesday to meet European Parliament President Martin Schulz.