FORMER first minister Alex Salmond has issued a call for Europeans to “rally to Scotland’s cause” ahead of Brexit.

Mr Salmond held talks with European Commission President Jean Claude Juncker in Brussels on Wednesday where he made a “clarion” call for keeping Scotland in the EU.

It comes as the Scottish Government prepares to publish its proposals for keeping Scotland in the single market after Brexit.

Mr Salmond was in the Belgian capital to collect the first Maurits Coppieters award for his “dedication and advocacy for Scotland’s right to redefine it’s political future among a European family of nations”.

In a speech, the MP for Gordon said: “We have no intention of allowing our 1,000-year history as a European nation to be severed by the failures of the Westminster political establishment. When that clarion call is issued, then other Europeans should rally to Scotland’s cause.”

It came as Scottish Secretary David Mundell told MPs that Scotland could have a “differential arrangement” within the UK Government’s Brexit strategy but would not have a separate deal.

He suggested the focus of Whitehall’s approach was on providing tailored conditions for different sectors of the economy.

His remarks came as his Cabinet colleague David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, said immigration controls would not feature in the UK’s “divorce deal” negotiations with Brussels.

With Nicola Sturgeon’s eagerly anticipated EU options paper due to be published early next week, the Scottish Secretary said he hoped it would be something that was “workable” and “credible” and would be “looked at and incorporated into our negotiating process”.

Mr Mundell said he agreed with Michael Russell, the Scottish Government’s minister on the EU talks, that if a country was “not a member of the EU, it can’t be a member of the single market and, therefore, there are a range of access options”.

But Mr Mundell stressed things would proceed on a “fact-based analysis”.

He told the Commons Scottish Affairs Committee: “If facts demonstrate that there is a benefit and a need for a differentiated Scottish position, then that should form part of the negotiating process.”

The Secretary of State explained that he did not believe the automatic starting point should be that there must be “some separate Scottish arrangement”, noting that key issues like the single market and migration were the same across the whole of the UK.

“Neither of these issues, as I see them, are specifically Scottish and, therefore, you would not necessarily look for a Scotland-specific solution. But if evidence was brought forward, and we want to proceed on a factual basis… and I was convinced of that, I would argue for that.”

Mr Mundell later, acknowledging how he might be completely wrong, surmised how there would be “one big agreement” with different sub-sections or annexes.

Asked by his Conservative colleague Anna Soubry, the former business minister and leading Remain campaigner, that the deal would be done sector by sector, such as on financial services, automotive, aerospace and so on, the Scottish Secretary replied: “I would be inclined to agree with that.”

When pressed on his personal view expressed shortly after the June 23 vote that the best deal would be for Britain to remain part of the single market, Mr Mundell said he wanted the “maximum possible access,” insisting there was no inconsistency in his remarks.

Across the Commons committee corridor, Mr Davies said he was ready to accept a transitional arrangement to implement the terms of Britain’s withdrawal from the EU “if it’s necessary” but made clear no decision had yet been made about whether or not Britain should stay in the single market.

Giving evidence to the Commons Brexit Committee, he stressed the Government was not prepared to compromise on immigration controls. “We have to pay respects to the outcome of the referendum, and, therefore, it’s got to be clear control by this Parliament.”

Asked if he thought discussion of issues like preferential, skill-based migration for EU citizens would feature in the negotiations, Mr Davis replied: “No, I don’t.”

He also indicated the Government was working on four possible outcomes from the Brexit talks in relation to the EU customs union, which ranged from being fully or partially inside it, to having a free trade and customs arrangement with it, to being “completely outside”.