Tories told to cheer and clap during Theresa May’s visit

Tory activists were instructed to cheer and clap when Theresa May made a visit to Edinburgh or “it will look like there is no-one here”.

The Prime Minister joined Ruth Davidson at Clockwork Removals and Storage in Granton to address Conservative supporters.

Minutes before Mrs May and the Scottish Tory leader arrived at the business, an organiser told the group of around 70 people to give them an enthusiastic welcome. Supporters cheered and waved placards as requested as the pair arrived on the Tory Battle Bus in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency.

Ms Davidson said the prize on Thursday would be sending a message to the SNP that Scotland did not want a second independence referendum.

“We’ve said no, we meant it,” she said. Mrs May later visited Abbey Tool & Gauge in Kelso, which falls in the marginal Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk seat.

The Prime Minister tried her hand at moving a component that will be used in the oil and gas industry.

In Edinburgh, May pledged to “fight for Britain” in Brexit talks and by resisting SNP pressure for a second independence referendum.

The Prime Minister told Scots she was a “passionate Unionist” as she raised the prospect of Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn in Number 10 with Scottish First Minister and SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon “pulling the strings”.

Mrs May said she had been very clear “now is not the time to be talking about a second independence referendum” – despite Ms Sturgeon’s demands for another ballot to take place in the wake of the UK vote to leave the European Union

The Tory leader said: “We need to pull together in order to try and deliver on the Brexit negotiations, not trying to drive these four nations apart, which is what Nicola Sturgeon is trying to do.”

She spoke in Edinburgh less than 48 hours after a terrorist attack at London Bridge left seven people dead and dozens injured.

The PM said: “In this week of all weeks we stand together, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as one United Kingdom. We are four proud nations but one united people, dedicated to our shared British values of freedom, of democracy, of human rights under the rule of law.

“While we mourn those we have lost and hunt down those responsible, we remain absolutely committed to our democratic process. That is why over the next three days we will all be out campaigning to ensure that we can deliver that strong and stable leadership, that leadership that is needed to build a stronger, fairer more prosperous Britain for the future.

“I am absolutely convinced that we can do that because I believe in Britain and I believe in the British people.”

Scottish Labour criticised Davidson’s claims that May will “make Britain great again” – echoing the campaign slogan of controversial US president Donald Trump

Campaign manager James Kelly said: “Ruth Davidson’s stealing Donald Trump’s slogan was a toe-curling moment, but both the Tory campaign and the Trump campaign have sought to divide our society. Theresa May and Ruth Davidson both support slashing the social security safety net for the poorest, tax cuts for the richest and scapegoating immigrants.

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