Prime Minister Theresa May’s failure to win a majority means that single market membership must be back on the table, newly-re-elected SNP MP Stephen Gethins has said.
Despite repeatedly insisting she would not do so, the Prime Minister called a snap election to secure a mandate for her Brexit plans – only to lose her majority in the early poll.
Mr Gethins, who is the SNP’s spokesman on Europe at Westminster, called on Mrs May to therefore rethink her plans on Brexit.
“The election result was a comprehensive rejection of the Tory plans for an extreme Brexit – and single market membership must now be back on the table,” he said.
“Theresa May couldn’t have been clearer. She called this election to secure a mandate for her negotiating position, and the electorate snubbed her.
“The Tories expected to come back with a thumping big majority – but instead they’ve come back weakened and reliant on the votes of the DUP.
“Scotland needs a seat at the negotiations to leave the EU – and it’s time for the Tories to ditch their plans for an extreme Brexit.”
When announcing the early election, Mrs May said that: “We need a general election and we need one now because we have at this moment a one-off chance to get this done while the European Union agrees its negotiating position and before the detailed talks begin.”
Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, whose party boosted its MPs north of the border from one to 13, has urged the UK Government to listen to those who did not vote Tory and pursue “an open Brexit, not a closed one”.