Theresa May faced attacks from across the political spectrum yesterday amid repeated claims she has no plan for Brexit.
The Tory leader was hit with a barrage of criticism during Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons.
SNP Westminster leader Angus Robertson asked her to confirm whether the UK would remain in the EU customs union, whose members can trade goods free of customs levies.
He intervened after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson told a Czech newspaper UK would probably have to leave it, while also insisting he wanted a “dynamic trade relationship” with the EU.
Mrs May suggested Moray MP Mr Robertson did not understand the customs union was “not just a binary decision”.
She added: “Let’s look at what we need to do, which is to get the best possible deal for access to, for trading with and operating within the single European market.
“I might remind you that it was only a couple of years ago that you wanted to take Scotland out of the single European market by making it independent.”
Downing Street has played down Mr Johnson’s comment, but they prompted Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem to accuse the former London mayor of offering voters a post-Brexit vision which was “politically unavailable”.
Mr Robertson also referred to claims by the Institute for Government think tank that Brexit preparations appeared “chaotic and dysfunctional”.
Asked if she planned to “carry on regardless”, Mrs May said the most important thing was for the government to get on with preparing for complex negotiations “calmly and carefully”.
She took a beating on the issue from Jeremy Corbyn too, who branded the government’s preparations a “total shambles”.
In a feisty performance at the Despatch Box, the Labour leader insisted the prime minister must give better answers on Brexit.
To his accusation of no plan, Mrs May said he was incapable of leading, having earlier labelled him “not up to the job”.
Mrs May fielded difficult questions from her own backbenchers as well.
Alberto Costa, who is Scottish but represents an English constituency, asked for reassurance about his Italian parents, who have lived in the UK for 50 years, but never naturalised.
The prime minister said she wanted and expected to be able to guarantee their rights, but added: “I also want the rights of UK citizens living in EU member states to be guaranteed.”