Scotland will not get Brexit concessions, says Philip Hammond

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, has ruled out any prospect of Scotland winning special concessions on trade or immigration in the Brexit deal, despite its strong vote in June to remain in the EU.

On a visit to Edinburgh, Hammond appeared to chide Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, for pursuing a more favourable deal for Scotland. “I look forward to us moving on from this slightly backward-looking, clutching at straws, trying to resist the will of the people to embracing it, recognising it’s going to happen and committing to work together to make sure it’s done in a way that is most supportive of the United Kingdom economy and the Scottish economy,” he said.

Sturgeon’s officials suggested that his stance directly contradicted a pledge by Theresa May to listen carefully to Scottish proposals and ensuring the Scottish government was “fully engaged” in the discussions on the UK’s Brexit proposals.

In the strongest rejection yet of the Scottish National party’s goal from a cabinet minister, Hammond said it was unrealistic to think Scotland could negotiate its own terms or expect a different outcome from the rest of the UK.

“This is a United Kingdom issue and the will of the people of the United Kingdom was to leave,” he told reporters shortly before holding talks with Sturgeon. “We’re clear that we can’t have a different deal or a different outcome for different parts of the United Kingdom.”

Even so, Hammond hinted very heavily he favoured a soft Brexit, stressing that he wanted the UK to be open minded and make concessions to get the best EU deal. “It has to work for both sides; if it doesn’t work for both sides, then it won’t get done,” Hammond said. “And we should be flexible and open-minded about how we put that deal together.”

Speaking during first ministers’ questions, Sturgeon said: “I am absolutely consistent on the question of the single market: the United Kingdom should stay in the single market. There is no mandate or economic, social or cultural justification for taking the UK out of the single market. I will make that point to Philip Hammond this afternoon, as I have made that point to the prime minister and others in the UK government.”

After the first minister and Hammond met, her spokesman said the chancellor had reiterated May’s offer to study Sturgeon’s plan but refused to get drawn on Hammond’s earlier remarks to reporters.

“The chancellor said he looked forward to hearing our proposals on Scotland’s place in Europe and that they will be considered fully by the UK government – in line with the specific undertaking given to the first minister by the prime minister when they met in Edinburgh in July,” the spokesman said.

Sturgeon is preparing a detailed options paper on how Scotland could win a more favourable EU deal, particularly on extra rights within the single market and tailored immigration powers, which is due for publication before Christmas. Options including special Scottish passports, a special deal with the European free trade area and extra immigration powers have all been floated.

After a series of tours to other EU capitals, including Dublin earlier this week, Sturgeon has campaigned vigorously to build up her case that Scotland’s strong pro-EU vote, by 62% to 38% in favour of remain, deserved special recognition.

Sturgeon has sought to build a cross-party consensus on that stance but the latest opinion polls suggest while Scottish voters remain strong supporters of EU membership, they are ambivalent about her strategy and pessimistic about her chances of succeeding.

A YouGov poll for the Times this week found 42% agreed with her stance and 41% opposed it, not counting those who did not know. Only 22% of voters thought a special EU deal would be achievable.

It suggests support for a fast second independence referendum is also receding, with only 31% agreeing that Sturgeon should campaign for independence before the UK leaves the EU in 2019 with 56% against. Even among those who voted yes in the 2014 independence referendum, it only got 60% support.

Hammond said the UK was keen to collaborate with the devolved administrations in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Stormont but only to arrive at a unified, collective deal which “secures the best possible deal for all parts of the United Kingdom”.

It would be impractical at the UK level to have more generous immigration to Scotland than in other areas, he claimed, adding that it would be counterproductive for Scotland to have different trading deals with the EU and the rest of the UK, adding extra tariffs or costs, given that Scotland’s trade within the UK was four times larger.

Despite his complete rejection of any compromises for Scotland, Hammond repeatedly insisted the UK was entitled to pursue a flexible deal with the EU and its member states, so long as the UK itself was flexible.

He said that David Davis, the UK’s Brexit secretary, was “absolutely right” to suggest that a deal could include the UK paying the EU for some form of access to the single market. Hammond said the UK had to go into the talks with “as many tools in our tool box as possible … You can’t go into any negotiation expecting to get every single objective that you set out and concede nothing on the way. It will have to be a deal that works for both sides. I think David Davis is absolutely right not to rule out the possibility that we might want to contribute in some way to some form of mechanism.”