Scottish National Party leader, Nicola Sturgeon has announced that she has given up hope of a second Scottish independence referendum for now - as she concentrates on securing Single Market access for Scotland.

She told the BBC that she has accepted the "reality" that Brexit will happen in all regions of the UK.

"I'm willing to put aside my preferred option of independence in the EU to see if we can explore a consensus and compromise option," she said.

While she added that she will "never stop arguing for independence," she accepts that the "reality" is that while Scotland and Northern Ireland wanted to stay in Europe, the party needs to appreciate that  "different parts of the UK voted differently."

SNP hopes to "keep Scotland in the single market while protecting free trade across the rest of the UK."

However, it remains unlikely that any one region of the UK will be able to negotiate bi-lateral deals with the EU.

Spanish Secretary of State for the European Union Jorge Toledo said yesterday, "If the UK leaves the single market, the whole UK will leave the single market. There is only one negotiator, the UK government."