David Davis tells Nicola Sturgeon Scotland cannot have a veto over Brexit negotiations
Scottish First Minister wants her country to stay in the EU while the rest of the UK leaves
BREXIT Minister David Davis has rubbished Nicola Sturgeon’s claims Scotland is in a strong position to block Britain’s departure from the EU.
He dismissed suggestions made by the Scottish First Minister that her country can stay in the European Union while the rest of the UK leaves.
Speaking on Sky's Murnaghan show, Mr Davis said the UK will be left with a land border with the EU in the Republic of Ireland that will create difficult issues, and it would be a mistake to create another border in the north too.
He said: "I don't think that works.
“One of our really challenging issues to deal with will be the internal border we have with southern Ireland, and we are not going to go about creating other internal borders inside the United Kingdom.
"The aim here is to try to address the concerns of people who are basically Remain people, who say 'well we are worried about inward investment, we are worried about trade with Europe, we are worried about all sorts of things'.
"And we will try as best we can - they can't have a veto because there are 17.5million people who have given us a mandate, they have told us what to do, we can't disobey it - but what we can do is to try to do what we can to minimise any disruption or turbulence or problems."
He also suggested that Article 50, the legal process through which the UK would officially set the clock ticking on its two-year Brexit negotiations, would be triggered "early next year".
His remarks paint a different picture of Brexit than that presented by the new Prime Minister Theresa May, who has said she will try to build consensus before launching formal negotiations.
On Friday Mrs May met with Ms Sturgeon at Bute House in Edinburgh and told her she would not trigger Article 50 before getting a UK-wide agreement.
And speaking on BBC's Andrew Marr Show today Ms Sturgeon said she believes this puts Scotland in a very strong position over Brexit.
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When asked if she had a "veto in her back pocket" she said: "I think that puts Scotland now in a very, very strong position.
"That's a position I am going to use as well as I can."
She also told the Marr programme it could be possible to find a solution where Scotland remains in the EU and the UK, while the rest of the country leaves the EU.
Ms Sturgeon said: "My position is, there might be.
"We're in uncharted territory, and when you are in uncharted territory with effectively a blank sheet of paper in front of you, then you have the opportunity to try to think things that might have previously been unthinkable and shape the future."
Mr Davis also warned that EU citizens may be blocked from staying in Britain permanently even if they arrive before the country leaves the union.
He said a "generous settlement" would be negotiated for EU migrants living in the UK and British citizens living in Europe.
But he warned this could attract a surge of EU citizens moving to Britain "in a big rush to try to grab a set of advantages that we are putting in place for people who have come here expecting us to remain with the European Union forever".
As a result, those who arrive after a set date could be blocked from being given an indefinite right to stay in Britain, he warned.
Mr Davis has also reasserted his belief that the EU would grant Britain access to the single market as well as a suspension of free movement rules, something which European leaders have so far ruled out.
His comments come after Australia called for a free trade deal with Britain as soon as possible in a Brexit boost for the Government.
In a Saturday phone call, Mrs May spoke to her Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull, who expressed his desire to open up trading between the two Commonwealth countries as a matter of urgency.
Mrs May said: "I have been very clear that this Government will make a success of our exit from the European Union.
"One of the ways we will do this is by embracing the opportunities to strike free trade deals with our partners across the globe.
"It is very encouraging that one of our closest international partners is already seeking to establish just such a deal.
"This shows that we can make Brexit work for Britain, and the new Secretary of State for International Trade will be taking this forward in the weeks and months ahead."