Theresa May pitches her Brexit deal to Glasgow factory workers

Prime Minister Theresa May will continue her tour of Britain in Glasgow today in an attempt to win support for the Brexit deal she has reached with European leaders but which looks to fail in a Commons vote next month.

After speaing in Wales and Northern Ireland on Tuesday, May will tell Scots major employers back her deal.

Opposition parties, the DUP and Conservative backbenchers all savaged the document in the Commons, making it increasingly likely the deal will fail to pass its parliamentary hurdle.

The Scottish Government also opposes the deal, publishing an analysis paper showing Scotland £9bn a year worse off by 2030 compared to if the country stayed in the European Union.

May has warned that if MPs vote it down then the UK will leave the EU on 29 March next year without any deal in place, forcing Britain to adopt costly World Trade Organisation tariffs on imports and exports.

Speaking to workers in a Glasgow factory today, May is expected to say: “It is a deal that is good for Scottish employers and which will protect jobs. It includes a new free trade area with no tariffs, fees, quantitative restrictions or rules of origin checks - an unprecedented economic relationship that no other major economy has.

“At the same time, we will be free to strike our own trade deals around the world, providing even greater opportunity to Scottish exporters.

“I welcome the strong support which employers have given to the deal and the certainty which it provides.”

May will also claim her deal will make the UK an “independent coastal state”, allowing fishermen “control over our waters”, although the French government has already claimed they will have access to UK waters after the deal.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has called the deal a “blindfold Brexit”.

Speaking at the launch of her analysis paper yesterday at Bute House, she said: “Quite simply this is a bad deal, which the UK government is seeking to impose on the people of Scotland regardless of the damage it will cause.

“It will not end uncertainty. It will extend it. We are being asked to accept a blindfold Brexit with all the difficult decisions kicked down the road.”