Nicola Sturgeon to meet Theresa May in London for Brexit talks

3 April 2019, 11:07

Nicola Sturgeon will meet Theresa May in London later on Wednesday after accusing her of "kicking the can" over Brexit.

The Prime Minister made a statement on Tuesday evening saying she would seek a further extension of Article 50 from the EU.

Mrs May also said she would meet Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in a bid to break the impasse in the House of Commons.

It followed a Cabinet session that lasted more than seven hours.

The UK is scheduled to depart the EU on April 12.

On Twitter, Ms Sturgeon suggested Mrs May was delaying making a decision on Brexit to avoid her Cabinet collapsing.

"This does seem very much like PM kicking the can and, yet again, delaying making any decision that could break her Cabinet," the First Minister tweeted.

"What is missing is an answer from her to the question that many MPs faced up to last night - what is the compromise she is willing to make?

"The sensible way forward - and I think the one PM would take if this was a serious attempt to build consensus - is agree to fight (an) election, seek longer delay and allow option of public vote on what Commons agrees."

The Prime Minister has failed to gather enough support to get her Brexit deal through Parliament, with MPs having voted it down three times.

On the most recent occasion last week, MPs were asked only to vote on the Prime Minister's Withdrawal Agreement after Commons Speaker John Bercow told her the same motion must not be asked repeatedly without any changes being made.

A series of indicative votes, held after MPs decided to take control of the Brexit process, have also so far failed to find consensus after none of the proposals gained enough support to pass.