Brexit 'opportunity' for Wales say top Tories

Two of the most senior Conservatives in Wales will both have Brexit-dominated messages for fellow Tories at their annual conference in Birmingham.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns is expected to say that Wales can benefit by finding new markets in different countries overseas.

Meanwhile Andrew RT Davies is expected to say that leaving the European Union is 'a real opportunity for Wales' and to criticise the First Minister for 'repeated scare-mongering' about the dangers of Brexit.

The Welsh Secretary will use his speech to tell the conference that leaving the EU should be seen as an opportunity not a threat.

In his speech, Andrew RT Davies will say that Carwyn Jones' 'leadership in the aftermath of the vote has been marked by a lack of ambition, clarity and repeated scare-mongering.'

And he'll also back Theresa May's efforts to 'make Brexit a success.'

Andrew RT Davies is also expected to face up to his party's electoral disappointment in May's Welsh election.

Despite making gains in 2015's UK Election, Conservatives found themselves slipping back in the polls and losing their status of official opposition.

Mr Davies will admit that 'spirits were understandably low' but he will encourage activists by saying that 'the violent leftward lurch' of Labour and Plaid Cymru 'has left a vacancy in the centre ground of Welsh politics which Welsh Conservatives are ideally placed to fill.'

But he'll say they'll have to change the way that they operate in the Assembly.

Both men will address the conference in Birmingham in a session devoted to discussing the future of the United Kingdom. It begins at 1030.