The chance to abandon Brexit is closer today than at any time since the EU referendum, Nicola Sturgeon has said.
Rejecting “all and very kind of Brexit”, the First Minister told MSPs there was an opportunity in the current turmoil at Westminster turmoil to prevent it going ahead.
With SNP MPs due to vote against Theresa May’s beleaguered deal on Tuesday, Ms Sturgeon said she would do all she could to stop Brexit taking place.
Other options being touted at Westminster include extending the withdrawal process, a Norway-style Brexit, a People's Vote, a General Election and No Deal.
Read more: MPs to vote on May's deal 'in the dark' about Scots Brexit row
Ms Sturgeon made the point at First Minister’s Questions after being accused of being too willing to compromising on a soft Brexit rather than fighting to stay in the EU.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said Ms Sturgeon should not try to ride two horses at once by both opposing Brexit and contemplating a compromise.
He said Mrs May’s deal faced “certain defeat” next week and he had “never felt more confident that we can stop Brexit”.
He told Ms Sturgeon: “She should not try to ride both horses. We have the Conservatives on the run. We should not be hunting for a compromise that has already been discredited.
“Every kind of Brexit will damage the economy. That is why we should be opposing every kind of Brexit. I am frustrated that I need to keep raising this issue with the First Minister.
“I know that she wants to be reasonable, but how is it possible to be reasonable when it puts jobs at risk? I plead with the First Minister to reject all and every kind of Brexit.”
Read more: Nicola Sturgeon defends SNP's tax policy during First Minister's Questions
Ms Sturgeon insisted she wanted to avoid Brexit, but said it was also her responsibility as leader of the government to contemplate other options, with continued single market and customs union membership her second choice. She told Mr Rennie: “I oppose all and every kind of Brexit. I do not want Brexit to happen; I want Scotland and the whole of the UK to stay in the EU.
“Where I would agree with Willie Rennie is that I think that there is a greater prospect of achieving that aim now than there has appeared to be at any other time over the past two and a half years, which is why the SNP will do everything that it can to bring that about.”
She went on: “If we cannot keep the UK in the EU, I have an obligation - which I accept that Willie Rennie does not have - to look at what will then best protect Scotland’s interests.
“It surely cannot escape Willie Rennie’s notice that the only reason why we are standing here at all having these discussions is that Scotland finds itself possibly being taken out of the EU against its will. That would not be possible if Scotland were an independent country.
“Whatever the outcome of this Brexit process - and we both hope that it ends with us staying in the EU - if Willie Rennie wants to make sure that Scotland never faces this prospect again, the sooner he backs independence for Scotland, the better.”
MSPs voted 92 to 29 on Wednesday to reject Mrs May’s deal and No Deal and demand a “better alternative”, with only the Scottish Tories defending the PM’s plan.
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