A Conservative MP has suggested that there would be no border controls between England and an independent Scotland.
Speaking to BuzzFeed News on Tuesday after an event on what the UK's borders would look like once the country leaves the EU, Charlie Elphicke MP said the question of an independent Scotland's border was "exactly the same" as Northern Ireland's.
Prime minister Theresa May has previously ruled out the prospect of border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which is inside the EU, saying: "Nobody wants to return to the borders of the past."
Elphicke was clear that he didn't expect Scotland to become independent in the near future and that the "best situation" would be for the UK to stay together, but suggested an independent Scotland would get the same treatment as Northern Ireland.
Asked if there would be a border between Scotland and England, the Dover MP said: "It’s exactly the same issue we have with the Northern Irish and the Republic of [Ireland's] border with the whole Brexit question.
"It’s incredibly complicated but the prime minister has been very clear she doesn’t want to have any border situation with Northern Ireland or the Republic and it’s really important to make sure that happens."
Speaking in August after May ruled out a hard Irish border, Scotland's first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: "I don't want to see a hard border between Scotland and England any more than people in Ireland want to see a hard border between the north and south.
"We've heard the prime minister say she's not prepared to have a hard border with Ireland. If it can be avoided there then, regardless of what might or might not happen with Scotland's future, there's absolutely no reason for anybody to be suggesting that that is inevitable here either."
Elphicke went on to say that he doesn't expect Scotland to remain in the UK as it leaves the EU, so the question of its border should not have to be tackled, and accused Sturgeon of instigating a "neverendum" on Scottish independence.
"The polls seem to be clear the Scots do not want another referendum, they do not want another crack at independence, and the issue was settled with a very high turnout," said the Dover MP. "The way Nicola Sturgeon is going on trying to raise a neverendum is frankly a distraction from the kind of national future England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland need to make."
He added: "I think the best situation we have is where we remain a United Kingdom and the question does not arise."