LONDON - Theresa May held her first joint talks Monday with the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland since becoming prime minister and told them it was vital not to "undermine" Britain's position during Brexit negotiations.
But Nicola Sturgeon, first minister of Scotland and leader of the SNP, warned May that she is not "bluffing" over her promise to hold an independence referendum if Scotland's vote against Brexit is "not respected."
After behind-closed-doors talks at 10 Downing Street, Sturgeon said she was not prepared to see "Scotland driven off a hard Brexit cliff edge".
Media reports described the meeting as acrimonious, with the leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland demanding to be fully consulted on EU negotiations.
The view put forward by Downing Street at the meeting was that the regional administrations must work with one voice to help secure a successful Brexit.
May's official spokeswoman said: "We have been very clear that we should be working together to secure the best possible deal for the whole country. We expect representatives of the devolved administrations to act in that way and to in no way undermine the UK's position."
May said later, "The country is facing a negotiation of tremendous importance and it is imperative that the devolved administrations play their part in making it work." (Xinhua)