In a strange turn of events, Scottish Tory MPs have threatened to vote a deal that promises an insufficiently hard brexit.

Their leader Ruth Davidson has long been characterised as a socially liberal ‘Cameroon’ - though just as committed to hard right economics. It therefore came as a surprise to most commentators today when John Lamont, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk promised to vote against any Brexit deal that does not give ‘complete control over UK fishing’. Ruth Davidson gave him her full support.

And he will have my full support. https://t.co/PHCB0tfThJ

— Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonMSP) March 18, 2018

Lamont has spoken previously about his belief that an exit from the Common Fisheries Policy could ‘trigger a revival of the Berwickshire fishing fleet.’ But as reported by the Financial Times on Saturday, the UK is set to back down over fishing quotas during transition, and the far more influential fishing lobbies in France and Spain look set to tie continued access to any final deal.

Given the high probability that the final deal with fail to meet Keir Starmer’s ‘Six Red Lines’, it is likely that Labour will also vote down the final deal in parliament. If the Scottish Tories follow the opposition into the same division, there is a high chance the government will lose the vote.