There is a "plausible argument" for a second referendum on Brexit if MPs remain unable to agree on how to proceed, a Cabinet minister has said.

Amber Rudd insisted she did not want a so-called People's Vote and did not think the country wanted to be asked again for its views on Brexit.

But she backed the idea of an indicative vote to find which Brexit options MPs would be prepared to back if Theresa May's deal is rejected when it returns to Parliament for a crunch vote in January.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said: "I don't want a people's vote, or a referendum in general, but if Parliament absolutely failed to reach a consensus I could see there would be a plausible argument for it."

She added: "Parliament has to reach a majority on how it's going to leave the European Union.

"If it fails to do so, then I can see the argument for taking it back to the people again, much as it would distress many of my colleagues."

Ms Rudd has previously suggested a Norway-plus model soft Brexit could be plausible if MPs were asked to back an alternative to Mrs May's deal.

She backed the idea of an indicative vote so MPs could reveal which options they would back if Mrs May's deal cannot get through.

It would "flush out" MPs by forcing them to show their support for one option or another, and encourage those whose favoured ideas are rejected to reach a compromise.

"We are going to have to find a way, as MPs, of working together to find a consensus, of agreeing on how to stop no deal taking place," she said.

Ms Rudd's intervention came after the Prime Minister's plans for securing reassurances from Brussels on her Brexit deal were mocked as "a wee bit nebulous" by Nicola Sturgeon.

Speaking after talks with Mrs May in Downing Street, the First Minister echoed the remark of European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker which infuriated the Prime Minister at last week's EU summit.

The comment came as Home Secretary Sajid Javid launched the Government's plans for immigration policy after Brexit, which Ms Sturgeon said amounted to an "act of vandalism" on the Scottish economy.

Meanwhile, in Brussels, the European Commission activated plans for a possible no-deal Brexit on March 29, making clear that they are designed to "protect the vital interests of the EU".

A day after the Cabinet gave the green light to full-scale no-deal preparations in the UK and 100 days before the scheduled date of Brexit, the Commission said it was "essential and urgent" to act to avoid "major disruption" if the UK crashes out without an agreement.

Mrs May is understood to have used her meeting with Ms Sturgeon and Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford to urge them to "pull together" to back the Withdrawal Agreement she reached with Brussels in November.

But as she emerged from Number 10, Ms Sturgeon restated the Scottish National Party's determination to vote against the deal when it returns to the Commons in January.

The plans cover 14 areas most likely to be affected, ranging from financial services to aviation, customs and carbon emissions trading.

And she said it was "unacceptable" for the PM to delay the vote in the hope of "running down the clock" to Brexit and leaving MPs with the choice only between her deal and no deal.

Ms Sturgeon, who backs a referendum on the final terms of the Brexit deal, said: "It's beyond me that any Prime Minister would want to have as her legacy turning the UK inwards and making it less open and welcoming to people from the rest of the world."

On a visit to Heathrow on Wednesday, Mrs May said that the UK was "talking to the EU about some further assurances to assuage the concerns that Members of Parliament had on a particular issue in the Withdrawal Agreement".

But asked if the PM had spelt out what was being done, Ms Sturgeon said: "It was a wee bit nebulous. There's not a lot of detail there.

"She says she's working with the EU, trying to find assurances. I pressed her to give a bit more detail on that. I have to say it wasn't forthcoming."

Mr Drakeford told reporters in Downing Street that a second referendum would be "unavoidable" if MPs failed to approve a deal and there was not a general election.

In the Commons, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said Labour MPs would not be forced by the shortness of time into choosing between Mrs May's deal and no deal.

Sir Keir said that "serious consideration" should be given to extending the two-year Article 50 process leading to Brexit on March 29 2019.

He said: "A choice between bad and even worse is not a meaningful choice. Nor is leaving the EU on March 29 next year without a deal viable."