DAVID Davis was giving his view and not necessarily expressing UK Government policy when he told MPs that it was “very improbable” Britain would stay a member of the European single market if that meant giving up control of its borders, No 10 has said.

The Brexit secretary on Monday placed the Conservative administration on a collision course with the SNP Government after suggesting that the UK would be willing to relinquish its membership of the single market, which opponents fear would cost the country jobs and investment.

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In a Commons statement, Mr Davis stressed how Britain could still have access to the single market without being a full member of it with all the obligations on Brussels rules and regulations this entailed.

“Indeed,” he explained, “being a member of it has caused some of the problems of sovereignty that this referendum was driven by.”

The secretary of state added: “The simple truth is if a requirement of membership is giving up control of our borders, that makes it very improbable.

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“What we are looking for…is a unique solution; one which matches the fact we are one of the largest trading countries in the world and a very large market for very large parts of very important industries in the EU.”

Theresa May’s spokeswoman stressed that the UK Government was “going to be ambitious; we’re going to go after the best deal that we can get for the UK and all the work on that is now underway”.

Asked about squaring the circle of being a member of the single market while still keeping full control of borders given the Brussels principle of free movement of people, she explained: “The PM has set out we are going to need to be able to address people’s concerns about migration within the EU and get the best possible deal in trade and services and work is under way. She is approaching that with an open mind and with a view that we should not be taking a model off the shelf, we should be working through what are the issues for Britain, what do we want for this relationship and addressing it.

“And also this is a negotiation; it’s not always the right approach to be putting all your cards on the table at the start.”

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Mr Davis’s “very improbable” remarks about staying in the single market, she stressed that he was "setting out his view".

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The spokeswoman went on: “The PM wants to have the work underway and recognises that people have differing views, which is why we need to do the work that there is and all of this has to be negotiated with our European partners but we should go after the best deal we can.”

Asked if the Brexit secretary had been speaking for the Government, she replied: “Policy tends to be a direction of travel. Saying something that is probable or improbable is not necessarily policy.”

After Mr Davis made his statement to MPs, Michael Russell, the Scottish Government’s Brexit spokesman, said: “A failure to make meaningful and achievable commitment to continued single market membership threatens very severe economic consequences, so we will continue to make the case, in the strongest possible terms, to retain membership as that is in the best interests of Scotland and the UK.”

Anna Soubry, the former business minister, said Mr Davis had been right to draw a distinction between having access to the single market and being a member of it. “Access is available to anyone but would impose trade barriers – costing jobs and investment – whereas membership is by far the best deal for Britain,” she argued.

Meantime, the PM’s spokeswoman did not contradict reports, suggesting Mrs May was considering the option that EU migrants would need to secure a job before they were allowed to move to Britain.

“I am aware there are some reports of that today,” she said, explaining how there were “various ways” to curb EU migration and that the Government would come forward with its proposals in due course.

Mrs May has not publicly broached any of these various options save only to rule out a points-based system favoured by Brexit campaigners.

Stephen Gethins, the SNP’s Europe spokesman, took UK Government ministers to task for not explaining what Brexit would involve.

The Fife MP told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "They've had a couple of months. All we're asking for is for them to give us an idea of what they're looking at; are we going to be part of the single market? What's the status of EU nationals? What about universities which have research grants that they need to plan long-term? What about food and drink producers? And we are getting nothing. They can't even tell us the very basics. They don't know. It's pretty irresponsible."

Mr Gethins added: "The UK is about to go through one of the greatest constitutional upheavals since the fall of the Berlin Wall and yet it was all done on a blank piece of paper."