Brexit: Scotland cannot stay in EU 'under any circumstances', Scottish Secretary says

There is "no set of circumstances" in which Scotland could stay in the European Union as the rest of the UK completes Brexit, the Scottish Secretary will say.

David Mundell will tell Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) that there should be no "easy assumptions" about how long it would take an independent Scotland to re-join the bloc

“I think it is important to be clear, that Scotland will not be in the EU at the end of this process," he will tell Holyrood's Culture, Tourism, Europe and External Relations Committee, in his opening statement.

"There is no set of circumstances in which Scotland could remain a member of the EU after the rest of the UK has left."

His comments appear to contradict the European Commission's UK representative, Jacqueline Minor, who said that there was "no reason" the country would not be accepted in to the EU.

"I think, obviously, there are some things that would facilitate that process, namely that Scotland would at a previous point have been aligned with the European acquis," Ms Minor said earlier this month.

Last week, the European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstad also told The National that Europe "cannot afford to lose" Scotland.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said a "soft" Brexit would take Scottish independence off the table for the foreseeable future.

She has previously said that being forced out of the single market would be one red line that might cause her to trigger a second independence referendum.

But Mr Mundell will insist: "If Scotland's constitutional position were ever to change, it would have to apply to be a member of the EU afresh, and we should not make easy assumptions about the length of time this would take, the process Scotland would have to follow or the terms of membership that may be on offer."