World Bulletin / News Desk

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday urged Scotland not to choose independence, while also fighting a political crisis in Northern Ireland in the frantic final days before she launches Brexit.

"Now is not the time" for a referendum, May said before meeting First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at a Glasgow hotel -- their first talks since the Scottish leader announced plans for a vote.

Both leaders said they were not ready to compromise.

The Edinburgh parliament on Tuesday is expected to back Sturgeon's call for a new independence vote -- three years after one in which Scots voted to stay -- to be held before Britain leaves the EU in 2019.

May will send a letter to EU President Donald Tusk with Britain's formal departure notification on Wednesday, opening up a two-year negotiating window before Britain actually leaves the bloc in 2019.

The Sunday Times reported that the letter would run to eight pages and British media said it would be handed over in person by Britain's EU envoy Tim Barrow at the same time as May addresses British MPs.

The notification will come nine months after Britain voted by 52 percent in favour of leaving the EU, the first country to do so, in a decision that shocked the world and caused a sharp devaluation of the pound.

The EU is expected to provide an initial response by Friday and an EU summit on April 29 will come up with a more detailed strategy, but the talks themselves are not expected to start until May at the earliest.