Holyrood Could Block UK Leaving EU - Sturgeon

Nicola Sturgeon has said she would consider asking the Scottish Parliament to block Brexit if given the opportunity.

The First Minister would "find it hard to believe" that Holyrood would not be required to back the UK leaving the EU.

If this was the case she would "of course" think about calling on MSPs to stop it.

:: Sturgeon: Indyref 2 Option Very Much On Table

However, Scottish Secretary David Mundell said he did not think the Scottish Parliament would be "in a position to block Brexit".

But he said there would be another independence referendum if that was what the people of Scotland wanted.

North of the border, some 62% of people voted to stay in the EU, while across the UK 52% backed leaving.

In the wake of the Brexit vote, Ms Sturgeon said a second independence referendum was "highly likely" and she would seek to enter into "immediate discussions" with Brussels to "protect Scotland's place in the EU".

Speaking on Sky News' Murnaghan programme, Ms Sturgeon said: "A second independence referendum in these circumstances would not just be a rerun of the 2014 one because the context has totally changed.

"The UK that we voted to remain within in 2014 does not exist anymore."

:: The Hurdles Sturgeon Faces Before 'Indyref 2'

The SNP leader said the UK was in "uncharted territory" following the outcome of the EU referendum.

UK Should Start Brexit By Tuesday - EU Chief

The European Parliament's chief has called on David Cameron to begin formal proceedings to leave the EU as early as Tuesday, when leaders are due to meet in Brussels.

Martin Schulz told a German newspaper that a period of uncertainty over Brexit would "lead to even more insecurity and thus endanger jobs".

"Hesitating simply to accommodate the party tactics of the British conservatives hurts everyone," he said.

"That is why we expect the British government to now deliver. The summit on Tuesday is the right time."

:: Does A Leave Vote Definitely Mean A Brexit?

The four biggest groups in the European Parliament are also reported to have drawn up a draft resolution calling for the Prime Minister to begin the process of the UK leaving the EU.

But the Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said: "There is no imperative on us to serve Article 50 at any particular time. We're under pressure from our EU partners to do it quickly, but the timing is entirely up to us."

One of the leading Brexit campaigners, Conservative MP Liam Fox, insisted talks should begin with the aim of the UK leaving the union by the beginning of January 2019.

"What we want to be doing is seeing a process that means we can leave the European Union on 1 January 2019. That seems to me like a reasonable timetable," Mr Fox said.

The Prime Minister said in the wake of the referendum result that he would step down by October and leave negotiations on Brexit to his successor.

Backtrack On 'Give NHS £350m EU Money' Promise

Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith has stepped back from his campaign's promise to give the NHS £350m extra per week.

The slogan "Let's give our NHS the £350 million the EU takes every week" was painted on the Leave campaign's posters.

A similar message was emblazoned on the camp's bus: "We send the EU £350 million a week - let's fund our NHS instead."

But the former secretary of state for work and pensions said: "I never said that during the course of the election."

:: Will Brexiteers Deliver On Campaign Pledges?

Boris Johnson in front of a Vote Leave poster in Bristol

He told the BBC's Andrew Marr: "The £350m was an extrapolation of the £19.1bn - that's the total amount of money we gave across to the European Union.

"What we actually said was a significant amount of it would go to the NHS. It’s essentially down to the Government but I believe that is what was pledged and that’s what should happen.

"There was talk about it going to the NHS but there are other bits and pieces like agriculture, which is part of the process. That is the divide up. It was never the total."

The Leave campaign bus

When asked how much of the money saved would be given to the NHS, Mr Duncan Smith replied: "Of the money that we give away to the European Union that never comes back, I would think the lion's share.

"That's down to the Government as to what ... but the point that everybody should bear in mind is that money that goes to the EU that comes back, that money now is able to be spent on a priority like the NHS.

"That's not a promise broken. The lion's share of that money, the Government is now able to spend.

"So people can say that there is more money available now for the NHS - categorically more, which is what's required and that's the key point."

The £350m figure was criticised by many, including the US Statistics Authority, as "misleading".

After the vote, Nigel Farage, a Brexit campaigner but not an official member of the Leave campaign, admitted it had been a "mistake" for the Leave campaign to make the pledge.

Sky News Political Editor Faisal Islam said Mr Duncan Smith's admission was "totally unsurprising".

He added: "We pointed out numerous times that the sense of that claim wasn't true.

"It was carefully worded on the bus ... many people got the impression it would be funding the NHS. It isn't going to. It wasn't ever going to.

"But there was a certain degree of vagueness on that point because it helped gain Labour voters for Leave."

Second Referendum Petition Was Set Up By Outer

The petition for a second referendum on EU membership, which has now topped three million supporters, was set up by a leave campaigner a month ago when he thought his side would lose.

Oliver Healey has disclosed that because there was "no guarantee of a leave victory at that time" he set up the petition "with the intention of making it harder for 'remain' to further shackle us to the EU".

In a Facebook post, the English Democrats member said he felt it was time to "clarify my position on the issue even if it looks bad" and stressed that the remain side had "hijacked" the petition on the government website.

Oliver Healey set up the petition a month before voting Leave

He said: "I am genuinely appalled by the behaviour of some of the remain campaign, how they are conducting themselves post-referendum not just with this petition but generally.

"The referendum was fairly funded; democratically endorsed, every vote was weighted equally and I believe this was a true reflection of the mood of the country. To my fellow leavers, now doubting their decision please keep the faith, we will be fine just stick with it."

The number of signatures is now way above the 100,000 needed for it to be considered for debate by MPs. 

It says: "We the undersigned call upon HM Government to implement a rule that if the remain or leave vote is less than 60% based (on) a turnout less than 75% there should be another referendum."

Remain campaigners have staged protests over the weekend as tensions in the country mount between the 48% who voted remain and the 52% who voted leave.

Twitter users have reported dinner party "uninvitations" of people they have discovered voted differently but, more seriously, others have reported racist incidents.

Heaven Crawley tweeted: "This evening my daughter left work in Birmingham and saw a group of lads corner a Muslim girl shouting: 'get out, we voted leave'."

Fox Considers Run Against Boris To Be Next PM

Liam Fox has refused to rule himself out of running for the Conservative leadership, as senior MPs scramble for an alternative to Boris Johnson.

The former defence secretary told Sky News that many contenders were waiting for the party's influential 1922 committee to outline a timetable for the race before making up their minds.

When asked about his own intentions, Dr Fox told Adam Boulton: "I'm not ruling it out, I'm not ruling it in - I'm going to think about it over this weekend.

"I'll talk to my wife and talk to my colleagues and then you'll be one of the first few million to know."

:: Will Brexiteers Deliver On Campaign Pledges?

Although she was supportive of the In campaign, Theresa May is seen as a strong candidate for succeeding the Prime Minister and halting what has been described as the "Boris bandwagon".

The Home Secretary kept a low profile for much of the run-up to the referendum, and managed to avoid becoming embroiled in the blue-on-blue attacks which have left the Tories divided.

Other MPs have been writing in the Sunday newspapers, in what could be an indication that they intend to throw their hats into the ring.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan warned in an article for The Sunday Times against a Brexiteer-style tough stance on immigration, as although it would "appease the noisy fringes" it would plunge the Tories into "wilderness".

:: Brexit Tories Pile Pressure On 'Dead Duck' PM

Meanwhile, Work and Pensions Secretary Stephen Crabb wrote: "The referendum campaign highlighted deeply entrenched divisions in parts of Britain's society which demands a One Nation response focused on improving social mobility and breaking down barriers to opportunity."

Hours after the referendum result became clear, Mr Cameron said he planned to resign by the autumn, paving the way for his successor to begin Article 50 negotiations in October.

The prospect of months of delay has frustrated EU officials, who called for talks to begin immediately and warned they would not be held "hostage" by a Conservative leadership race.

Labour is also facing a leadership revolt, with Hilary Benn sacked from the shadow cabinet following reports of a coup to oust Jeremy Corbyn.

Benefits To Blame For Brexit: Dutch Minister

The Dutch foreign minister has told Sky News that Britain's benefits system is partly to blame for the defeat and departure of David Cameron because it attracts migrants to the UK.

Bert Koenders was speaking after the six original member countries of the European Union called on the UK to speed up the process of leaving, now that it has voted to leave the EU.

He told Sky's Lisa Holland: "You have relatively low wages and at the same time immediately people get a lot of benefits.

"That attracts a lot of migration. It has nothing to do with Europe. It has to do with your domestic rules and regulations.

:: Does A Leave Vote Definitely Mean A Brexit?

"But we are sometimes living in a time when (if) something goes right, it's national, and when it's wrong, it's Europe."

Mr Koenders' comments come after German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there is no need to be "nasty" during talks to discuss Britain's exit from the EU.

She told a news conference it "shouldn't take forever" for Britain to deliver formal notification that it wants to leave the European Union but made it clear that the matter is in London's hands.

France's foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said it was a "matter of respect" that the UK did not "play cat and mouse" with its soon-to-be-former partners. 

Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, also said there was no reason to wait until David Cameron is replaced in October to begin negotiating Britain's exit.

Mr Juncker said the separation was "not an amicable divorce" and called for discussions to separate the UK from the bloc to begin "immediately".

But Ms Merkel said: "To be honest, it shouldn't take forever, that's right - but I would not fight over a short period of time."

The German leader added that she wanted an "objective, good" climate for in talks on Britain's exit from the EU and that there was no need to make it a priority to deter other countries from attempting to leave the EU as well.

Ms Merkel said that there was "no need to be particularly nasty in any way in the negotiations; they must be conducted properly."

Earlier, it emerged a German government paper has warned that France, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands and Hungary may follow the UK and leave the EU.

The German finance ministry strategy paper expressed concern that the UK's historic vote may trigger a Brexit domino effect across Europe, German newspaper Die Welt said.

It recommended the EU enters into negotiations aimed at making the UK an "associated partner country" for the remaining 27 nations.

As it stands, the UK's exit could cause Germany's contribution to the EU's budget to rise by €3bn (£2.44bn) a year, the paper adds.

The German warning came hours after UKIP leader Nigel Farage declared the "EU is dying" and far-right leaders in France and the Netherlands demanded their own referendums on EU membership.

A number of European nations have started to react in other ways to the vote, with Spain proposing joint sovereignty over Gibraltar, the British Overseas Territory that it shares a land border with.

The French mayor of Calais, meanwhile, says that now the UK is leaving the EU, Britain must renegotiate a deal which allows UK border checks to take place on French soil.

Tata Steel Bidders Get Cold Feet Over Brexit

Several bidders for Tata Steel's British operations are close to abandoning talks with their Indian owner as the outcome of the EU referendum threatens to deepen the crisis enveloping the UK's biggest steel producer.

Sky News has learnt that the billionaire tycoon Wilbur Ross, who is among seven bidders shortlisted for Tata Steel's UK business, has signalled that exiting the EU would diminish the prospects of him pursuing a takeover.

A number of other prospective buyers are understood to have similar concerns about the potential impact of Brexit on global demand for steel, the robustness of new trade deals negotiated by the Government, and the ability to sell steel produced in the UK in the European single market.

"Wilbur has been reasonably open that this deal is far less attractive if Brexit happens," said a person who has discussed the Tata Steel situation with Mr Ross.

Sources said this weekend that Tata Steel, which employs roughly 11,000 people in the UK, had raised the possibility of putting its British business into some form of liquidation, although they added that no decisions had been taken.

The company owns the vast Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales as well as smaller sites across the country.

The remaining bidders for Tata Steel's UK operations have been told by advisers to the company that they will be updated early next week on its intentions, according to a person close to the situation.

Prior to the referendum, Tata Steel had indicated to the Government that it was leaning towards retaining the bulk of its UK business, aided by a support package comprising an equity injection, loans and a possible restructuring of the British Steel Pension Scheme.

However, the vote to leave the EU has made that outcome less likely, a source said.

If Tata Steel did elect to walk away from its British operations - and found it impossible to sell them - the decision would escalate the industrial crisis confronting a key manufacturing sector as well as the political crisis facing Sajid Javid, the Business Secretary.

ey doubted that Mr Javid now had the political clout to push through the legislative changes needed to restructure the steelworkers' pension scheme, particularly after strong objections raised by the Pension Protection Fund.

In trading in Mumbai on Friday, soon after the result of the UK's referendum on EU membership was confirmed, Tata Steel shares closed down nearly 6.5%.

It remains possible that the Indian group's board will still be able to secure a buyer for its British operations, with other parties including the management of the Port Talbot site and JSW Steel, another Indian company, assembling offers.

Mr Ross has joined forces to bid for Tata Steel's operations with Endless, a firm which specialises in reviving struggling businesses.

"Decisions by the UK electorate will always be respected by Tata Steel," a company spokesman said.

"Whatever the political framework, we are committed to developing the best prospects possible for our UK operations."

Earlier this week, Sky News revealed that Tata Steel was courting buyers for two British units employing nearly 2,000 people, fuelling speculation that the Indian-owned company could retain the bulk of its UK business under a deal with the Government.

Tata's speciality steels division and its pipeline tube operations - which operate at sites in Hartlepool, Rotherham and Stocksbridge near Sheffield - have been put up for sale independently of the wider auction.