On Tuesday 20 December, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon unveiled a plan for Scotland (which voted by 62% for the United Kingdom to remain in the EU) to remain in the single market despite Brexit. She again threatened to organise a Scottish independence referendum if necessary.
Unveiling her plan for Scotland to remain in the European single market, Sturgeon said in Edinburgh that she was determined that Scotland would retain its place in the single market. She said she accepted the fact that England and Wales had given a mandate to get the UK out of the European Union, but did not accept the idea that there was a mandate to get any part of Scotland out of the single market.
The Scots did not vote for Brexit and a ‘hard’ Brexit would cause huge damage to the Scottish economy, said the head of the Scottish inpendence party, the SNP, adding that any exit from the single market could cost 80,000 jobs in Scotland. Sturgeon criticised the way the Tories in power seem more concerned about limiting immigration to the UK than focusing on jobs and the economy.
In the plan, Sturgeon suggests Scotland should remain part of the single market through the European Economic Area (EEA), like Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. She said that her preferred option was an independent Scotland that was a full member of the EU. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)