Nicola Sturgeon has accused Theresa May of making a “deeply damaging” no-deal Brexit more likely by repeatedly raising the prospect as a negotiating tactic before what is likely to be a tense summit between the two leaders.

The Scottish first minister complained that there had been “no visible progress” in the divorce talks since the Chequers plan was unveiled in July and told May that she needed to spell out the future relationship the UK sought to have with the EU.

“A no-deal Brexit would be utterly unacceptable and deeply damaging, but by talking it up as a negotiating tactic there is a very real danger it becomes a reality,” Sturgeon warned.

The SNP leader said it would not be enough to secure a simple exit agreement with the EU if it did not prove possible to complete all the divorce negotiations in time for March 2019. That would risk “a blind Brexit – which will see the UK step off the cliff edge next March without knowing what landing place will be”.

No 10 sources described Sturgeon’s response as predictable rhetoric ahead of an afternoon meeting on Tuesday between the first minister and May that was not even confirmed until lunchtime on Monday. Pinning down arrangements for meetings between the two frequently goes down to the last minute.



An exasperated Downing Street called on Sturgeon’s administration to behave constructively in an attempt to assert some authority over the first minister. A No 10 source said: “The UK government has set out a series of proposals for our future relationship with the EU in the white paper that are reasonable and will work for the whole United Kingdom. The onus is now on the Scottish government to engage constructively with those proposals to ensure the minimum disruption for people and businesses in the UK when we leave the EU in March 2019.”



Ministers, led by the prime minister, have repeatedly referred to planning for a no-deal Brexit in the last week as the UK tries to strengthen its negotiating hand, including dire warnings that plans are being drawn up to stockpile food and medicines if the country were to crash out of the EU.

But Sturgeon said that no deal was a “catastrophic prospect” and that while ministers have focused “on the scare tactics of no deal” the UK had not achieved any results beyond making the prospect more likely.

The first minister said that May had “promised a detailed statement on the future relationship with the EU alongside the withdrawal agreement, so parliament and the people would know where the UK is going”. She added: “Parliament cannot be asked to make the decision on withdrawal without details on what the future relationship will look like.”

Financial markets are taking the no deal warnings increasingly seriously. On Monday, the pound fell to its lowest level in nearly a year against the dollar, tumbling by three quarters of a cent to hit $1.2920, as the market worried about the slow pace of Brexit talks and the potential impact of a collapse in the negotiations.



Brexiters argue that concerns about a no-deal scenario have been exaggerated and that it remains in the EU’s economic interest to negotiate a divorce agreement. Sir Bernard Jenkin said there would be “rioting in the streets” in EU countries if their producers faced extra barriers trading with Britain.

The Conservative MP said: “The civil service and the government are feeding the industry and the industry is feeding the government with this diet of gloom and alarm and despondency,” and added: “Actually, it’s unnecessary and we will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about, a bit like the millennium bug.”

May is visiting Edinburgh on Tuesday to confirm £600m in previously announced research funding for Heriot-Watt, Queen Margaret and Edinburgh universities, half of which is coming from the Scottish government. She will also “experience” some of the Edinburgh arts festival although it was not confirmed in advance what the prime minister would be seeing.