Now May must sell her deal to Sturgeon

THERESA May will hold face-to-face talks with Nicola Sturgeon during a visit aimed at selling her Brexit deal to Scots.

The Prime Minister will head north of the Border tomorrow as part of a UK tour to persuade voters her draft agreement is the way forward.

She will meet the First Minister just eight days after they had a ‘full and frank exchange of views’ during a private meeting in the House of Commons.

In a passionate plea for unity yesterday, Mrs May said it is time for the country to ‘come back together again’.

But Miss Sturgeon will today step up her own bid to co-ordinate opposition to the Brexit deal, with a Scottish Government paper outlining why the agreement will make Scotland poorer – and claiming it will damage the NHS.

Yesterday, Mrs May told MPs: ‘Now is the time for the country to come back together, to get behind this deal and to ensure that we can build a better future for all.’

But SNP Brexit Secretary Michael Russell said: ‘This is a damaging deal for people in Scotland.’

The Nationalists’ Westminster leader Ian Blackford signalled that the SNP will use opposition to the Brexit deal to attempt to boost its push for independence.

He said: ‘The ways that Scotland’s interests have been dismissed by the UK Government throughout this process demonstrate the real cost of not being an independent country able to take our own decisions.’

Scottish Tory interim leader Jackson Carlaw said Mrs May has made clear that fishing rights will not be tied to any other aspect of the wider economic partnership with the EU after Brexit.

He said: ‘It is in complete contrast to the position of the SNP. After years moaning about the Common Fisheries Policy, the policy of Nicola Sturgeon’s party is to head straight back in.’