Theresa May has been warned she faces 'war on two fronts' with Nicola Sturgeon and the EU after the Scottish First Minister demanded a fresh independence referendum.
Former Foreign Secretary Lord Hague said Miss Sturgeon would exploit inevitable difficulties in Brexit negotiations to push the case for breaking up the UK.
Meanwhile, Brussels will use the need to appease Scotland to undermine the PM's attempts to drive a hard bargain.
The warning comes as the Brexit Bill officially enters the statute books, with the Queen due to grant Royal Assent later.
But although Mrs May is now formally authorised to trigger Article 50 and begin the Brexit process, she has put the moment off until the end of the month.
The premier will make a statement to MPs later in which she will furiously condemn Miss Sturgeon's bid to hold another independence vote.
The SNP leader insisted Scots deserved a ‘real choice’ over EU membership and threatened to throw a grenade into Brexit talks by holding the vote between autumn 2018 and spring 2019.
Mrs May responded by accuse her of ‘playing politics with the future of our country’.
The PM is set to stop short of refusing to allow a legally binding vote - which No10 fears would merely inflame nationalist sentiment.
But Mrs May will fight to ensure any second ballot is held after Britain has left the EU.
Lord Hague said nationalist forces in both Scotland and Northern Ireland - where Sinn Fein is threatening to collapse the powersharing deal - were now taking advantage of Brexit to mount a bid to 'pull the UK apart'.
'There can be no going back on the decision nevertheless taken by the British people as a whole to leave,' Lord Hague insisted.
'But the Government will now have to fight a war on two fronts, with each making an impact on the other.
Every time EU negotiators warn there might be no deal or complain of British intransigence, they will be adding grist to the mill of the Scottish nationalists.
'And with each demand for special treatment for Scotland, those nationalists will weaken the ability of UK ministers to maintain tough positions that will lead to the best deal for the whole of the United Kingdom.'
Lord Hague said Miss Sturgeon had identified the tumultuous period as we leave the EU as her 'one best hope of destroying the UK' and would use 'any argument to achieve her ends'.
In 2014, the SNP said the referendum was a ‘once in a generation’ chance. But Miss Sturgeon has been threatening a second referendum since last June when Scotland voted to remain in the EU.
Speaking at her official residence, Bute House in Edinburgh, the SNP leader said she would ask the Scottish Parliament to begin the legal process next week.
But, under the terms of Labour’s devolution deal, any referendum also has to be approved by MPs at Westminster. Downing Street was tight-lipped yesterday on exactly how Mrs May will respond.
The PM’s official spokesman said: ‘We have said there shouldn’t be a second referendum. But as for the issue, it hasn’t gone through the Scottish Parliament yet … We are waiting for the Scottish Parliament to reach a decision. But we are 100 per cent clear that we do not believe there should be a second independence referendum. They said at the time this would decide the issue for a generation.’
In a separate statement, a Government spokesman indicated Miss Sturgeon’s timetable was unacceptable, saying: ‘Another referendum would be divisive and cause huge economic uncertainty at the worst possible time.’
Miss Sturgeon yesterday accused Mrs May of failing to respect Scotland’s interests, by insisting that the UK must leave the single market as part of Brexit.
She claimed her appeals to the Prime Minister on the issue had been met with a ‘brick wall of intransigence’. ‘If Scotland can be ignored on an issue as important as our membership of the EU and the single market, then it is clear that our voice and our interests can be ignored at any time and on any issue,’ she added.
The First Minister said Scotland stood at a ‘hugely important crossroads’. She claimed leaving the EU would hit the economy and affect how ‘open, welcoming, diverse and fair’ the country was.
‘In short, it is not just our relationship with Europe that is at stake,’ she said. ‘What is at stake is the kind of country we will become.’
The 2014 referendum was held after David Cameron backed the SNP’s demand for a vote on independence.
On that occasion, the Government gave the Scottish Parliament a relatively free rein on the timing, the question asked and the electoral franchise, which was extended to include 16-year-olds.
But ministers are not expected to give Miss Sturgeon a blank cheque if she presses ahead with her threat to hold a second referendum.
Her proposal threw Labour into chaos, with Jeremy Corbyn being forced to abandon his position that a second vote would be ‘absolutely fine’, after intense pressure from senior figures in the party.
A BMG poll for the Herald newspaper found only 39 p
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