Nicola Sturgeon has suggested she could join forces with pro-EU Tory ministers in a bid to avoid a “hard Brexit”.
The first minister said forming a “coalition” with like-minded politicians to try and keep the UK in the single market was “worth a try”.
The Scottish Government has repeatedly railed against a Brexit deal without access to the single market, claiming it could cost the economy north of the border billions of pounds.
Opposition political parties criticised Ms Sturgeon’s intervention, with Labour’s Lewis Macdonald claiming she was “shifting the goalposts”.
Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie claimed the first minister’s “obsession with independence” made her “incapable of reaching a constructive agreement with anybody”.
Some Conservative ministers are believed to favour a “hard Brexit”, but that position is not universally shared around the cabinet.
Ms Sturgeon said: “Can there be a coalition across the UK that gets the UK into a more sensible position?
“I think that’s worth a good try because Theresa May, she was on the Remain side, so presumably she knows the real risks of removal from the single market.
“Let’s have a try at getting the UK, not into the best position – because the best position in my view would be continued membership of the EU – but let’s try and get the UK as a whole into the least-worst position and that means staying in the single market.”
Her comments came as Scotland Brexit minister, Michael Russell, suggested there were divisions among the cabinet on leaving the EU.
He said: “There were ministers who voted to Remain and there are ministers who are saying to themselves … this could be very detrimental.
“This is the issue between hard Brexit and soft Brexit.”
The UK Government has yet to trigger Article 50 – the process to leave the EU – after the vote to leave the continental block. A majority of people in England and Wales backed a break with Brussels, but a majority in Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to Remain.
Reacting to Ms Sturgeon’s comments Scottish Labour’s Mr Macdonald said: “This is a definite shifting of the goalposts from the first minister, who initially said that maintaining our full membership of the EU would be the only acceptable outcome, now it is only about access to the single market.
“The people of Scotland deserve to know why the first minister is changing her tune.”
The Liberal Democrats Mr Rennie added: “An obsession with independence makes (Ms Sturgeon) incapable of reaching a constructive agreement with anybody.”
