Ruth Davidson is acutely aware her party’s biggest advances last week came in the northeast of Scotland, home to the bulk of its fishing fleet



Ruth Davidson has told Theresa May that the government must not trade away any fishing rights in the Brexit negotiations.

The Scottish Conservative leader made the protection of fishing one of her red-line issues as far as Brexit is concerned. She has insisted that the UK leave the common fisheries policy completely, that Britain have a rigorously enforced 200-mile fishing limit and that no fishing rights be traded away for concessions elsewhere.

Ms Davidson is acutely aware that her party’s biggest advances last week came in the northeast of Scotland, home to the bulk of its fishing fleet, which is still the largest in the UK.

She also knows that she will lose all credibility in that region if the government trades away fishing rights