NO GUARANTEES

Sturgeon said Scotland should have the chance to stay in the EU's lucrative single market and keep an open-door policy to immigrants after voting to remain, and has criticised May for failing to consult the Scottish government on her strategy.

The Scottish Greens, another pro-independence party, said May risked boosting support for independence if she wanted to veto a decision expected to be made by Scotland's devolved parliament next week.

Sturgeon is by no means guaranteed of winning a referendum just 2-1/2 years after Scots voted to keep the union, but she has managed to put pressure on May just days before Britain is expected to trigger Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty and start the formal divorce procedure.

May is a unionist and will fight hard to keep Britain together but her government will be stretched in trying to negotiate a "good deal" with the EU and keeping vocal eurosceptics in her ruling Conservatives onboard.

Britain's vote to leave the bloc last June deepened geographical and social divisions in the country, with Scotland and Northern Ireland voting to stay in the bloc while England and Wales backed an exit.

May says her government is committed to engaging with the whole of Britain over Brexit to negotiate a good deal for everyone, suggesting there should be no independence referendum until after a final deal is reach with the EU.

"To look at this issue at this time would be unfair because people wouldn't have the necessary information to make such a crucial decision," May said.

Reuters