Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event in Brussels Tuesday, June 11, 2019. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is in Brussels Tuesday to meet with European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon speaks during an event in Brussels Tuesday, June 11, 2019. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is in Brussels Tuesday to meet with European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

BRUSSELS (AP) — Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says Brexit and the “horror show” of the British government leadership contest are signs that Scotland needs to chart a different future path, probably outside the United Kingdom.

Sturgeon said Tuesday that “increasingly, Scotland and the U.K. are on different political paths. We have to confront whether the better response to that is to have the ability to be independent and shape our own future.”

Speaking to European Union experts and journalists at the European Policy Centre think-tank in Brussels, she said “the people of Scotland have to have a choice before it’s too late to stop the damage of Brexit being done.”

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Sturgeon held talks with EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and was due to meet later with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.