Select Committee
Parliament

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders chief executive Mike Hawes has been answering the lion's share of the questions this morning. 

He says that the UK is currently the most productive place in Europe to make cars but tells MPs that it is an extremely competitive industry, especially on the manufacturing side, which runs on "wafer thin" margins. 

Any additional costs therefore; either from tariffs or additional bureaucracy, would add time and costs to the industry.  

Mr Hawes says that the current competitiveness of the UK industry is based on certain building blocks, and references Theresa May's upcoming Brexit speech this morning by saying that "it seems that some of those are going to change". 

He warns that the UK needs to retain current competitiveness "or we will lose out". 

Mr Hawes also responds to a question about looking beyond the EU for new markets by saying that although the industry already does this - there is a "massive market on our doorstep and we are totally integrated in it".  

Select Committee
Parliament

Responding to a question about the 80% of cars that come from abroad to the UK, of which "the majority" come from the EU, Mike Hawes, for the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, says that European car industries and companies would like a good deal with the UK.

He says that this is due to the fact that the UK is the second biggest car market in Europe and the third largest manufacturer in the continent.

But Mr Hawes warns that it is "equally clear" that European based car companies recognise that the European market is more important, and would therefore align with the political imperative of their home country. 

Select Committee
Parliament

Conservative MP Nigel Evans begins the meeting by asking about potential difficulty in the UK negotiating at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Peter Hardwick from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development board says that the issue of tariffs could be "very significant" and "extremely damaging" to some agriculture sectors.

Mike Hawes from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says that reverting to WTO tariff levels would threaten the viability of automotive sector in the UK.

Select Committee
Parliament

The International Trade Committee's terms of reference for its inquiry into UK trade options beyond 2019 is as follows:

Laura Kuenssberg
BBC political editor

A group of Tory MPs have tabled an urgent question to try to force Theresa May to go to Parliament rather than making do with the Brexit Secretary David Davis.

The MPs are angry that “Parliament is being excluded” as they see it and believe the prime minister ought to spell out her plans for Brexit to the House of Commons first rather than making today’s speech.

Image source, PA

It all seems a long time ago now, but the Conservatives' 2015 election manifesto - which obviously pre-dates the referendum and the Leave vote - said:

Brexit Secretary David Davis will be making a statement in the Commons in the aftermath of Theresa May's speech - although he won't be the first Cabinet minister at the despatch box. Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire will update MPs on the situation at the NI Assembly from 12:30 GMT, which means the Davis statement should start from about 13:15 GMT.

We will have a live feed of the Commons action among the video options at the top of this page.

Image source, Getty Images

Follow BBC News on Snapchat for live updates and reaction from Theresa May’s speech.

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Brian Taylor
BBC Scotland Political Editor

I doubt there will be complete certainty today on what will happen in Brexit, for the simple reason of course that there is two years of negotiation to follow, but I think it will narrow down the options for the Scottish government.

Nicola Sturgeon said in the Scottish government paper published towards the end of last year that she wanted to stay in the EU, but in the absence of that she wanted the UK as a whole to stay in the single market.

If not that, then Scotland in the single market, and if not that then it would have to be an independence referendum.

Of those three, I think today's speech will remove stage one - there is no prospect from Theresa May's stance of the UK remaining a member of the single market.

It makes the prospect of a further, relatively early, referendum on independence more - rather than less - likely.

Victoria Derbyshire

Image source, AFP

Conservative MP Peter Lilley says by leaving the customs union, the UK will be able to avoid the high common external tariffs on imports such as clothes.

This will reduce prices for British consumers, he tells the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire. 

There are two scenarios that could play out, he says. 

One in which the UK agrees a free trade deal with the EU, while also having the flexibility to negotiate other agreements, which will leave British business considerably better off than it is now.

Even if this does not happen, which he accepts is possible, the UK will be able to adopt most-favoured nation trade status - the basis on which the EU already trades with the US, Japan and China - which will leave it no worse off.

The focus of post-Brexit trade negotiations should be on cracking "highly protected, fast-growing markets" such as India and China.

Coverage of Tuesday at the Northern Ireland Assembly, as MLAs support a call for a public inquiry into the botched £1.2bn Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.

BBC Radio 5 live

Paul Nuttall tells Radio 5 Live's Your Call that UKIP has "had its eye" on the seat of Stoke Central for some time.

He says his party ran a "skeleton" campaign during the 2015 election and yet still came second with more than 20% of the vote.

That result, he points out, was "pre-Corbyn and pre-Brexit" and he believes UKIP will go one better this time.

But John Woodcock, the Labour MP for Barrow and Furness and no great ally of Jeremy Corbyn, says UKIP has fallen apart since the 2015 election and the "reason for their being has evaporated".

If Labour focuses on the economy and the NHS, he says it should be able to hold both Stoke and Copeland seats.

Not everyone in Westminster is hanging on Theresa May's every word, apparently. Notably Larry the Cat, Downing Street's most well-known non-politician.

BBC Breakfast

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith says he expects the prime minister to set out her stall on leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, restoring full control of the UK's borders and having the scope to do free trade deals with countries outside the EU.

As for the single market, he tells BBC Breakfast that 90% of British businesses do not sell goods to the EU but still have to abide by the common rules and standards of the internal market - so will be better off out of it.

What these positions "boil down" to, he adds, are.

Today Programme
BBC Radio 4

Journalist Ian Birrell, a former speechwriter for David Cameron, says there will be "instant judgement" of Theresa May's speech - to be delivered in central London at 11:45 GMT - by the financial markets, foreign governments, critics and supporters as well as the public.

He says that while Mrs May is not one of the world's greatest orators, she has a history of making "good clear speeches" although she will be aware that some of her efforts - including one to the Tory conference in 2015 in which she called for tough immigration controls - received a hostile reception.

At this stage, he suspects her aides will still be "penning things in and scratching things out".

The PM has already said more about her view of Brexit than she is being given credit for, he adds, and while Tuesday's speech is likely to contain some "trite phrases" about Britain's place in the world, he believes her task will be to reveal a bit more about her vision while not giving the entire game away.