No clarity in Brexit vision...

The Sage Gateshead’s unusual architecture has seen it likened to a glass armadillo. That alone made it an apt venue for Theresa May’s Cabinet roadshow.

The Conservative government, particularly over Brexit, has at times resembled a glass armadillo - tough looking from a distance, but close up it’s as fragile as glass.

Mrs May has beaten the “strong and stable” drum for some time, but on closer inspection her party is anything but.

It is riven with discontent over Brexit and perhaps the last thing she needed was a trip to the North East - a part of the country that, while in some areas is strongly pro-Brexit, is, in most, anti-Tory.

That said, given the high profile resignations in her Cabinet over Brexit, the PM may have welcomed this trip as a much-needed distraction.

If she thought an easier ride was in the offing, she was mistaken. But if the audience hoped for clarity in her answers, they too would be disappointed.

In Sunderland, a city with a clear voice on Brexit, the people want a clear strategy of leaving the EU.

The biggest player in the Brexit game is Nissan (a company making no bones about its unease on the EU question), what reassurances could she give Wearsiders?

On that she said: “It’s about recognising the importance to companies like Nissan of the integrated supply chains with the European Union and ensuring that means frictionless movement across the border.”

We wanted wise words, what we got was warm waffle.

The future of Sunderland after Brexit is, unlike the glass that adorns the Sage Gateshead, about as clear as mud.