GORDON Brown has said a post-Brexit UK should adopt a Norwegian-style relationship with the EU, and warned Scottish voters should not face a stark choice between severing ties with Europe or Westminster.

The former Prime Minister, speaking publicly for the first time since last week's historic referendum, said repeatedly that "all options" for Scotland should be considered following the result, which he said was biggest revolt against political, business, financial and cultural elites as well as the greatest setback for the country's international position in his lifetime.

He suggested a "quasi federal solution" for the UK where different parts could have different relationships with the EU, and spoke of a danger in Scotland of becoming "trapped in a debate between the Conservatives who settle for Britain without Europe and the Nationalists who settle for Europe without Britain."

The ex-Kirkcaldy MP said that following the referendum the Norway model, which sees the country granted full access to single market, obliged to make a financial contribution and accept majority of EU laws and free movement, was "by far the best" option. He called on the UK Government to act promptly to end uncertainty, saying putting the decision on hold risked further damage to the economy.

Addressing what he referred to as "the Scottish question", he said the theme of the Leave campaign - taking back control - was the same as that adopted by the SNP.

He said: "Funnily enough, you could imagine a referendum with Boris Johnson on the side of Remain, and Nicola Sturgeon on the side of Leave. This is one of the ironies of the situation that we face.

"Scotland, Northern Ireland, most of the cities of Britain voted to stay part of the EU... there is an emotional reaction to that which has led to an outpouring of sentiment in Scotland where people are saying 'something must be done about this'."

He described the SNP option of potentially becoming a successor state to the UK within the EU, meaning it would keep the same terms, as "interesting" but warned against a "rush to judgement" about how to secure Scotland's place in Europe.

Speaking at an event organised by the Institute for Public Policy Research, Mr Brown added: "It is important, I think, that as we enter this next phase in the debate about Scotland's role in Europe that we look at all the facts, that we weigh all the evidence and we examine all the options, and we don't restrict the discussion to only one option on how Scotland can maintain its membership of the European Single Market."

Mr Brown said Scotland's relationship with the rest of the UK should not be discounted.

Exports to rest of UK are worth £48.5 billion compared with £11.6 billion to EU while 250,000 jobs are linked to the single market compared with one million linked to the UK market, he said.

A total of 1,000 companies from Europe are based in Scotland, compared with 3,000 from rest of UK, Mr Brown added, with Scotland leaving the UK potentially also having huge consequences for the financial services sector.

The question of currency would also become a factor, the former prime minister pointed out, with an independent Scotland's options not as "clear cut" as a few months ago.

Mr Brown dismissed the suggestion that the Leave side had won as a result of Labour voters deserting the party as "a myth", pointing out that polls had suggested almost two thirds had backed Remain with right wingers supporting quitting the UK in far greater numbers.

The ex-chancellor said: "I was unhappy about the Labour vote and of course people are unhappy about the Labour campaign. But we've got to get this in proper perspective. The reason the referendum was lost was because people on the right of politics were the most unenthusiastic about staying in the European Union... the majority came from the right wing forces in our country."

He refused to follow a string of senior party figures in explicitly calling for Jeremy Corbyn to go following last week's vote, but warned that Labour should not be seen as merely a protest movement and instead put forward viable policies that could address voters' concerns about the impact of globalisation.