SNP delivers Brexit ultimatum to May

The Scottish National party will vote against any Brexit deal that takes the UK out of the single market and customs union, the party’s Westminster leader has said.Ian Blackford said the SNP’s 35 MPs would also resist a “blind Brexit”, where little was known about the substance of the deal, or a no-deal Brexit, suggesting Theresa May would struggle to command a majority in the Commons next year.Addressing delegates at the SNP’s annual conference in Glasgow, Blackford said: “The only deal we will accept is one that keeps Scotland in the single market or customs union. Any other deal sells us short. I put the prime minister on notice we will not support any measure that threatens Scottish jobs and living standards.” His speech echoes a warning on Sunday from Nicola Sturgeon, the first minister, who said it was “almost inevitable” the SNP would vote against whatever deal May produced, since the UK government would never table an offer to stay in the EU single market.Blackford said Brexit would cause lasting harm and threatened living standards across the UK. “We will not follow the Tories through any lobby (vote in the Commons) that leads to economic destruction for citizens across Scotland and the rest of the UK,” he said. “We will not sit back and allow Scotland to be dragged out of the single market and customs union against its will. We will not be complicit in a blind or a no-deal Brexit. Friends, when the time comes to vote on a Brexit deal, the only deal we will accept is one that keeps Scotland in the single market and the customs union. Any other deal sells us short.” Their ultimatum will increase pressure on May and the EU to produce a compromise deal that commands a cross-party majority large enough to neutralise the votes of Conservative Brexit hardliners. If the SNP sticks to its stance, that will require backing from Labour.