SEPARATE EU and single market arrangements such as those for the Channel Islands strengthen the case for Scotland to obtain a separate Brexit deal from the rest of the UK, according to a leading tax and politics expert.

Under European Union rules Jersey and Guernsey are part of the customs union and are "essentially within the single market for the purposes of trade in goods", but are outside the EU in all other respects.

However, such arrangements offer a "precedent" for Scotland to remain a member of the single market, according to Richard Murphy, the author of bestselling book The Joy Of Tax – and the politics guru who is credited as the author of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s economic policy.

Theresa May has ruled out any possibility of a separate deal for Scotland to remain in the single market,

Mowever Murphy, professor of practice in international political economy, at the City, University of London, said the status of Jersey and Guernsey means, “There is an avenue to explore."

Murphy said that even though the two islands, which are considered to be 'territories for which the UK is responsible' are not in the single market, the relationship suggests separate EU arrangements can be accommodated.

Jersey and Guernsey have had a separate deal with the EU and its forerunner the European Community since the UK joined in 1973.

The EU's Channel Islands Brussels office, which exists to promote the interests of the Channel Islands in Europe, states that both Jersey and Guernsey "have a close relationship with the EU in many different fields".

Its website says that "Both Jersey and Guernsey voluntarily implement appropriate EU legislation or apply the international standards on which they are based.

"Exports of goods from the Channel Islands to the EU and from the EU to the Channel Islands are treated as intra-EU trade."

It goes on to say that for such trade arrangements EU "legislation is directly applicable and the Channel Islands are regarded as part of the UK Member State". The Isle of Man, which is also a Crown dependency, is a member of the customs union.

Murphy suggested that the possibility of a separate deal for Scotland after Brexit was "one to look at, I think".

He added: "The precedent is from the Channel Islands. They have since 1973 had a Protocol 3 agreement [which allows tariff-free trade] with the EU.

“Now this deliberately leaves them out of the single market but in the customs union.

"That is my start point. Work with that and you can see the UK can sustain different arrangements for its territories with the EU. And if it could do that for the Channel Islands for 40 years my question is why isn't such an individual arrangement possible for Scotland now?”

A spokesperson for Scotland's Brexit minister Mike Russell restated the SNP's call for Scotland to be get a separate European deal after it was reported that such an arrangement was being considered for other parts of the UK.

The minister's spokesperson said: "The UK government is indicating there will be special Brexit deals for Northern Ireland, Gibraltar and even for the car industry in Sunderland – which voted to leave the EU.

“That shows that solutions are possible if there is a political will – and the Tories need to start taking Scotland seriously, rather than thinking they can do what they want and get away with it.”

However, Scottish Conservative finance spokesperson Murdo Fraser claimed the island status of Jersey and Guernsey was not directly comparable with that of Scotland as an integrated part of the UK.

Fraser said: "It would be wrong to draw too many conclusions from the experiences of very small islands with very distinct arrangements and which have enjoyed particular tax and trade status in the past.

"Given the significant integration of the Scottish economy with the rest of the UK and our land borders there is no direct comparison with any of these examples."