Mrs May strengthens Remain forces in Cabinet

The replacement of Gavin Williamson in Cabinet with Rory Stewart is the net change of yesterday’s mini reshuffle. The purpose is clear. Mr Williamson thought we should get on with leaving the EU. Mr Stewart is wedded to Mrs May’s deeply unpopular stay in and pay up Agreement. The Agreement delays our exit by around 2 years, maybe 4 years, and probably keeping us in the customs union and much else thereafter.

There was no leak of sensitive national security information. Someone leaked which Cabinet members opposed Mrs May’s wish to let a Chinese company into the UK 5G system. This is no worse than the regular leaks from Cabinet that we have got used to. Mr Williamson denies he leaked.

Whatever the truth of this leak it is quite obvious the system is unfair. There has been no leak enquiry when the leaker could have been a Remain supporting Cabinet member. Yesterday was another bad day where the position of those who want to stop us leaving the EU as promised now was strengthened with an additional recruit who shows no sympathy for all those who oppose the Agreement for failing to take back control as the Leave majority wants to.

283 Comments

  1. Pominoz
    May 2, 2019

    More devious moves from our PM. (Sorry I cannot say her name)

    Every single thing she does just proves to me how treasonous she is. I would like to believe the Daily Express that by Friday, following the local election results, she will be out of office.

    It is such thoughts that keep me sane. Sad, Aren’t I?

    1. Lifelogic
      May 2, 2019

      Me too – every time I see or hear her (or anything about her or her tax to death sidekick neighbour) it just depresses me and damages confidence. Worse with the real threat of Communist Corbyn shortly at this rate. Confidence is vital for the economy and May, Hammond and Corbyn/McDonnall/SNP are really destroying it now.

      1. Hope
        May 2, 2019

        Brokenshire did not know the facts, did not read the transcript and nev r spoke to Scruton before he sacked him! Basic decency. Brokenshire should b sacked.

        Now we have Traitor May who cannot be believed or trusted on anything she says against a Defense Secretary where there is no reason to doubt him. Produce the evidence or reinstate him. Also she should resign for failing to keep her word so often that she now laughs about it in parliament!

        Rudd, Greg Clarke Hammond, and Gauke will in post- why?

        1. Hope
          May 2, 2019

          JR, reading all manner of articles and comments, I genuinely do not think your party is recoverable.

          Today your party will scrape through by lack of alternatives. A very low turn out will still secure seats, like voting for police commissioners less than 10 percent turn out against the public wish to have such posts.

          Therefore I urge anyone unsure of voting today to vote Labour to oust Tories at any cost. Council tax up by ten percent over two years is a good enough reason to get rid of them.

          1. Hope
            May 2, 2019

            JR, I suggest you read an article by Bruce Newsommin Conservative Woman today about Sedwill and Robbins. Their links to May and each other without or with little control. Too much power in the hands of EU fanatics. Time for them to be investigated.

        2. Lifelogic
          May 3, 2019

          Indeed the sacking of Roger Scruton was another total outrage.

    2. oldtimer
      May 2, 2019

      It is clear that a new definition must be added to the Mayspeak vocabulary.

      Everyone now knows that “Brexit means Brexit” actually means Brino, Brexit in name only.

      Few know or even realise that “no deal is better than a bad deal” actually means revocation of the UK’s Article 50 notice is better than leaving the EU unless it is under the surrender terms of May’s WA.

      Now we have the latest Mayspeak, as set out in her letter to Williamson:
      “compelling evidence suggesting your responsibility for the unauthorised disclosure” actually means “we have stitched you up so I can fire you”.

      1. Dennis Zoff
        May 2, 2019

        Mayspeak – or she who speaks with fork tongue.

        Eric Arthur Blair (aka Orwell) is turning in his grave! Perhaps even he did not expect his predictions to come to pass in our lifetime!

      2. Lifelogic
        May 2, 2019

        Indeed.

      3. NickC
        May 2, 2019

        Oldtimer, Theresa May lies about Brexit, manoeuvres deceitfully to lock us back into the EU, and then imagines she can compartmentalise her betrayals. She can’t. Having destroyed trust in our democracy and our institutions the rot will spread. The debacle over national security is only one example. Expect more.

    3. Mike Stallard
      May 2, 2019

      The sheer anger on Conservative Home is something which I have never ever seen before. I got slung off a couple of years ago for calling a prominent Conservative “disgusting”…

    4. Timaction
      May 2, 2019

      It is time for the Party to put the Nation first and split! Liberal lefts to stay with May, the rest to leave with the Associations and join the Brexit Party.

      1. JoolsB
        May 2, 2019

        Hear hear!

      2. Kenneth
        May 2, 2019

        The Conservative Party still is a strong “brand”, albeit badly tarnished.

        I think we should allow some time for the Lefties – Mrs May & her friends – t0 be expelled and for Conservatives to reclaim the party.

        If Conservatives leave now they are handing the party to the entryists.

        It’s not too late but Conservatives must act quickly to rid themselves of this rot imho.

        1. Lifelogic
          May 2, 2019

          Indeed, but alas socialist have largely been in charge for many years. Prices and Income Policy Heath, John ERM Major, abandon ship (low tax and heart EU skeptic not) Cameron and now (worse of all)traitor Theresa May. Even Mrs Thatcher failed for cut the state sector sufficiently any by some margin – worse still she handed over to the dire ERM fiasco John Major.

    5. Peter
      May 2, 2019

      An attempt to shift talk from the folly of allowing Huawei access to security systems to leaks from government ministers.

      Nothing else appears to be happening. May continues in office achieving little but ruining much.

      We might have the first Brexit party MP shortly in Peterborough.

      1. Mitchel
        May 2, 2019

        It’s only a folly if you insist on seeing them as an enemy-as the Americans would like you to.Serious,grown-up states do not have permanent friends,allies,enemies,etc.

        China is the rising sun,America the setting sun;which do you wish to attach yourself to?I appreciate managing the process will be a delicate task but the day will come,as in 410 AD with the Rescription of Honorius,when the legions will leave.

        1. NickC
          May 2, 2019

          Mitchel, Whenever anyone says something like “serious, grown-up states” I run a mile. Presumably your serious grown-up state is bigger and more important than my jovial juvenile state? Or so you think. It doesn’t make me believe what is merely your opinion any more, though.

          1. Mitchel
            May 3, 2019

            Grown up states can be little or large-Switzerland,Austria or China,Russia for instance.

    6. Hipe
      May 2, 2019

      The answer is in your hands. You have been told for months, if not years. Bring her down. This traitor is the face of the Remain cohort establishment.

      Brokenshire should be sacked by now for his handling of Scruton. Scruton should sue. Not for the money but to emphasize and highlight this ghastly dishonest authoritarian government.

    7. Hope
      May 2, 2019

      Rudd, Gauke, Greg Clarke and Hammond should have been sacked by now. All with the support of May, there is no other reasonable conclusion.

      May held a “Girl power” (Truss claims) night out with a link to Putin this week! So much for faux Salisbury outrage and attacks on Corbyn! Did any of the female cabinet. Inisters have their phones checked in case Russia was listening in? Also was it not a sexist dinner to be all female only? So much for equality crap.

      I’m off to vote Labour today for the first time in my life. I loathe May’s Tories more.

      1. Tad Davison
        May 2, 2019

        That seems counter intuitive. I too absolutely loath Tory remainers, but are Labour remainers really any more trustworthy?

        George Galloway has a saying – they’re two cheeks of the same backside.

        1. Hope
          May 3, 2019

          Only choice was Labour or Tory at local level. Tories are in govt and are responsible for the betrayal”

          1. Tad Davison
            May 3, 2019

            I could narrow it down even further, May and all the ‘wets’ are responsible for the betrayal. There are still many good men and women in the Tory party – Solid Brexiteers every one of them. We can’t tar everyone with the same brush.

            Can’t quite bring myself to trust most of the Labour part though. Watch them squirm over Brexit.

    8. Stephen Priest
      May 2, 2019

      Even if the Conservatives were left with just ONE council seat throughout the whole country she wouldn’t resign.

      1. oldwulf
        May 2, 2019

        My local election choice was between Conservative, Labour, Lib Dem and Green.

        I held my nose and voted conservative.

        Hopefully, there will be a wider choice in a few days time.

      2. Chris
        May 3, 2019

        Her mission, Stephen P, has always been to effectively keep us in the EU. The end justifies the means with her: betraying the people, her country and Brexit through lying, duplicity, covert operations against her Ministers, steamrollering of opposition, abusing Parliamentary procedures, and much more. Her Conservative MPs still support her and will not act to remove her. This speaks volumes, the most obvious being that they support such appalling conduct, but worst of all the betrayal of this country, selling it out to the EU as a vassal state. A PM is meant to defend her country and its people. There is a special term for those who betray their country in this way. In my view, she deserves that description.

    9. Captain Peacock
      May 2, 2019

      These fake Tories haven’t the guts to get rid of her they want us enslaved to the EU this time without any say and paying them blood money of £403 million a week.

    10. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Sad – no. Absolutely right to be appalled by Theresa May – yes!

      No matter what that conniving individual does, there’s some underhanded ulterior motive behind it. I thought I had seen everything with the expenses scandal, but she has dragged politics to a whole new low. The word ‘integrity’ is anathema to her. She will duck and weave, and obfuscate, rather than be clean, precise, and up-front with the public.

      Just listen to the conversations she had yesterday with the liaison committee (transcripts on Brexit Central), and see how she loads her cabinet with contemptible crawling ‘yes people’. These were never going to deliver the Brexit people voted for – anything but, and she knew that all along!

      I hope those who MPs voted for May as leader (and we know who they are) can feel really proud of themselves that they lumbered us with such a nasty piece of duplicitous work! I have never before seen such a more underhanded less trustworthy person in politics, except one figure from history maybe, but I know Sir John doesn’t like anyone to mention his name.

      If politicians need to get things done with subterfuge, they shouldn’t really be in the game, but she sees subterfuge as a legitimate tool to circumvent the democratic processes.

      Tad

    11. Ron Summerson
      May 2, 2019

      Join the ever increasing club.

  2. Alan Jutson
    May 2, 2019

    John, you simply have to face the fact that Mrs May is never going to give up on her version of Brexit, until she is forced to resign.
    She is completely and utterly wedded to keeping us under the control of the EU, so do not be surprised if she starts to think in terms of some sort of customs union as an add on to her so called deal, just to get enough Labour support, in order to get it through Parliament.

    Until the majority of Politicians in Parliament can see the sense of us leaving the EU properly and becoming a fully independent and sovereign state once again, this thing is going to rumble on and on, and eventually either destroy the Conservative Party, or trust in our whole political system.

    1. Richard Elsy
      May 2, 2019

      Fat chance, I’m sorry to say. Too many MPs simply cannot see beyond their peculiarly insulated worlds and, consequently, refuse to consider that the masses of the voters who they disdain, or ignore, or both, are turning away from them and looking for an alternative. I’m sorry to say that I resigned my membership of the Conservative Party on March 30th, for obvious reasons. One can listen to the same promise too many times. I might have considered still voting Conservative until I read of Brokenshire’s sacking of Sir Roger Scruton and the support he got for this from Mercer and Tugendhat. I was appalled at the shoddy, ill-informed and disgraceful behaviour of these alledgedly respectable Conservative MPs. Sorry Sir John, if this is the best that the Conservative Party can offer today, I see little prospect other than five years in opposition to a bunch of Marxist clowns. We are all going to pay heavily for the appalling behaviour of most of your fellow Tory MPs. We are being treated with contempt and it’s a two way street.

      1. Mitchel
        May 3, 2019

        If you follow Tugendhat’s twitter feed you will find this “military man” is much more Frankfurt School than Sandhurst.

        1. Tad Davison
          May 4, 2019

          He is a 5th columnist. His sins will be found out, and hopefully before he launches a leadership bid.

    2. Julie Dyson
      May 2, 2019

      Absolutely spot on, Alan — although in my opinion trust in our whole political system has already been well and truly shattered beyond easy repair, and the Conservative Party itself is peering into the abyss.

      Moreover, I very much doubt the PM is kept in a dark cupboard behind the door of No. 10. She knows exactly what she is doing and she is willing to pay the price — and the party be damned. The 22’s recently made a huge mistake they will come to regret.

    3. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Alan,

      To use that old cliche’ so often voiced by US presidents, ‘when you have them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow’.

      What we are largely dealing with here, is a bunch of careerist politicians who have no principles. They use the words ‘to serve’ as though they were people of saintly virtue in whom the public can trust to do their bidding in an honest even-handed way. In reality, ‘to serve’ must be taken in a different context to mean, ‘to serve themselves’ or a particular cause. We have seen how that plays out with the European Union.

      Only when these same careerist politicians see themselves getting kicked off the gravy-train by a disaffected public do they start to take notice, and if that disaffection is down to the erroneous ways and direction of any given leader, it is then the careerists will plunge the metaphorical knife and get rid.

      I am of the view that our political system already is badly damaged and that broadly, politicians are held in contempt, but it doesn’t have to be that way. The good shouldn’t have to carry the can for the bad, but save for a few, the present crop is nevertheless very, very bad. Their removal via the ballot box is vital and their replacement with good, decent, honest people is even more vital to restore parliament’s moral authority.

      Tad

    4. NickC
      May 2, 2019

      Alan Jutson said: “… do not be surprised if she starts to think in terms of some sort of customs union as an add on to her so called deal …“.

      Arrghhh, please, please stop it all of you!! Theresa May’s draft Withdrawal Agreement ALREADY has a customs union as part of it:

      ARTICLE 6
      Single customs territory, movement of goods
      1. Until the future relationship becomes applicable, a single customs territory between the Union and the United Kingdom shall be established (“the single customs territory”)
      “.

      My apologies, Alan, I enjoy your comments, but too many people still don’t realise that the dWA does include a customs union. Her dWA is literally a revolving-door Remain – out of the existing treaties but back in under the new treaty.

      1. Alan Jutson
        May 2, 2019

        NickC

        I am fully aware that Mrs May’s so called deal has her version of a customs union, but so far Labour are not buying into it !

        To get her deal through Mrs May is probably going to have to go further to satisfy them, hence my suggestion it will only be a different arrangement that WILL suit Labour, which means and even bigger surrender towards the EU’s position.

  3. Ian wragg
    May 2, 2019

    And still she soldiers on.
    Are you going to stand by and allow the destruction of the Tory Party and country out of blind loyalty.

    1. KMILLS
      May 2, 2019

      After Cameron surprisingly lost his forced referendum clearly that situation had to be corrected.May was seen as the person who could spout brexit means brexit nonsense for months but finally had to expose her 100% remainder cards last July very ably assisted by many of those around her.Given that she had to come clean rather than keep her true intentions hidden like Heath she has done very well indeed by virtue of the fact that she is still in place and might yet succeed but had Churchill consorted with the “enemy” to the extent of Mays connivance I suspect he would have been given a bottle of whiskey and a gun well before now!!!!!!

    2. agricola
      May 2, 2019

      I think the answer is yes. As it stands it is not conservative and is well past it’s sell by date. It no longer represents conservatives but seems infected by Lib/Dum thinking. Better vote Brexit Party to achieve what we voted for in 2016.

      1. jerry
        May 2, 2019

        @agricola; “Better vote Brexit Party to achieve what we voted for in 2016.”

        You mean like how some voted UKIP in 2010…

        True Conservatism and Conservatives have not moved towards the centre, it just appears that way to some on the right, who themselves have simply moved even further to the right. Some of the suggested polices, posted to this site by readers, make Mrs T and our host appear left wing and would even make Mr Powell blush! 🙁

        1. NickC
          May 2, 2019

          Jerry, Theresa May is still in power thanks to the support of people like you. Shouldn’t you be blushing?

          1. jerry
            May 3, 2019

            @NickC; “Theresa May is still in power thanks to the support of people like you”

            I did not vote for Mrs May (nor the Conservative party, due to her pondering to the hard right) in the 2017 GE, nor am I a Tory MP who voted to keep TM as their leader earlier this year, so once again in your spite you manage to add 2+2 and get 5 as the result!…

          2. NickC
            May 4, 2019

            Jerry, I said “support”; I did not say that you elected Theresa May. In the contest between Leaves and Mrs May, you side with her as demonstrated by your comments here. So actually in your spite you manage to add 2+2 and get 5 as the result!…

          3. jerry
            May 4, 2019

            @NickC; Once again you make to many assumptions, due to your tunnel vision, how many times do I have to state it here, I want a WTO exit. I also fully supported all those MP’s (and Peers), on what ever side of the house, who voted against the WA.

            There is a difference, which you and others seem unable to comprehend, between what you call ‘support’ for and a begrudging acceptance that were are were we are. Like it or not Mrs May is the PM of the UK until at least November (she shows no signs of resigning before she can be pushed…) thus she is the one ultimately dealing with Brexit. We have to make the best of were we are, not day-dream about things that can not be -for now at least.

        2. Edward2
          May 2, 2019

          I dont agree Jerry
          It isn’t about voters moving off to the extreme edges of the political spectrum.
          It is more to do with politicians refusing to listen to what voters are saying, on both sides of the Brexit debate.
          A disconnect, a breakdown of communication.

          1. jerry
            May 3, 2019

            @Edward2; You are hitting the nail firmly on its head, only trouble is you are using a rubber hammer, indeed some politicos and their supporters are not listening!…

            Some on the (hard) right are making the same mistake today as the hard left made in the early 1980s, believing that if only the party moves just that little bit further towards the “extreme” (your choice of word Eddie…) the people will then vote for them in droves, it did not work for the left in 1983 and it will not work for the right today.

          2. Edward2
            May 3, 2019

            I agree with you that hard left or hard right policies will fail to get you elected.
            What I said was that political parties are not listening to what their supporters want.
            (And when elected they are not carrying out some of the policies they had in their manifestos)

    3. jerry
      May 2, 2019

      @Ian Wragg; Bringing TM down means bringing the Govt down too, at least until around November time, are you seriously suggesting that Mr Corbyn (perhaps as part of a grand coalition with the LDs and SNP etc) will be any better, deliver a better Brexit, deliver a better funded MOD, deliver less eco-worrying nonsense such as seen yesterday in the HoC – a “Climate Emergency” my foot!…

      1. NickC
        May 2, 2019

        Jerry, That is not true, PMs change without changing the government – Major and Brown being examples. Moreover, when we get the Labour-Conservative coalition government next week, I think you will see about as much difference in the parties as we did between Cameron and Clegg.

      2. libertarian
        May 2, 2019

        Jerry

        I hear what you say, but how many more years are we going to keep electing this rotten socialist Tory party just because the Labour party are worse?

        I’ve had enough The Conservatives have been told by Party members, activists and large swathes of their voters since Thatcher was deposed and the liberal left took over the party that they were in the wrong. Now its time to wipe out the party and replace it with something fit for the 21st century

        1. jerry
          May 2, 2019

          @libertarian; “how many more years are we going to keep electing this rotten socialist Tory party”

          Until the majority decide otherwise, although that change might be sooner than you think, only trouble is -judging from the 2017 GE results- the people appear to prefer moving to the left rather than further to the right when ever the Tory party attempt to move to the right. People do not vote in their droves for a left-wing manifesto because what they really wanted were polices even further to the right.

          “The Conservatives have been told by Party members, activists and large swathes of their voters since Thatcher was deposed”

          Had she not been ‘deposed’ it is less than certain the Tory party would have won the next GE, even with Major as leader it was touch and go, with many suggesting Kinnock lost that election rather than the Tory party winning it.

    4. Chris
      May 2, 2019

      That is my question too, Ian.

    5. Paul Ralph
      May 2, 2019

      He doesn’t stand by, doing nothing, and never has done. John has a reputation for opposing Maastricht, to the extent of standing for the leadership of the party. He is a militant, in the best sense.

      1. Ian wragg
        May 2, 2019

        But he continues as a Tory in what is clearly NOT a Tory Government.

        1. Chris
          May 2, 2019

          …and that is key, Ian W. You are right to make the point. It is what the electorate sees, and what they are entitled to judge him by.

    6. Everhopeful
      May 2, 2019

      Ian w
      I reckon that some MPs have been too loyal, too nice, too kind. Not wanting to disbelieve or “make a fuss” or hurt any feelings (!!).
      The electorate was exactly the same when all the nonsense started.
      And all that has happened is that our wonderful social capital, built up over however many hundreds of years has been squandered and used against us.
      We tolerant, eternally respectful people have been well and truly shafted.
      Surely it is ok to fight when the threat is existential?

      1. JoolsB
        May 2, 2019

        Ian w
        “I reckon that some MPs have been too loyal, too nice, too kind. Not wanting to disbelieve or “make a fuss” or hurt any feelings (!!).”

        And not want to leave a party they foolishly/naively believe is remotely Conservative.

      2. NickC
        May 2, 2019

        Everhopeful, Exactly right.

    7. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Maybe that’s one for the remainers Ian.

      I see from the Liaison committee minutes that May is now saying ‘No deal is better than a bad deal only applied in the abstract’.

      Yet more backtracking, sleight-of-hand and chicanery.

  4. Mark B
    May 2, 2019

    Good morning

    Ken Clarke MP once tipped Rory Stewart MP as a future PM. I’ll say no more 😉

    One good thing about this, is that a Leave MP is now free to vote as he pleases and not as the government dictates.

    As for the nature of events leading up to the dismissal, I think this may well come back on those that instigated it.

    And I am sure the Chancellor was happy to see Mr Williamson gone after he messed up the Chancellors meeting with the Chinese earlier in the year. 😉

    1. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Liddington says the matter will NOT be refered to the police. It seems therefore that Mr Williamson will not be allowed to have his day in court. If it were me and I had been wrongly accused, I would insist it was referred. I would go further. I would not rest until my name had been cleared.

      Makes me wonder if this wasn’t a manufactured put-up job by discredited politicians who are clutching at straws to keep afloat an administration that knows its days are numbered.

    2. Peter
      May 2, 2019

      Rory Stewart made an enjoyable TV documentary on the history of the Borders area . He also wrote a couple of travel books that made me think he might be a thoughtful and productive member of Parliament. I was even prepared to overlook his resemblance to Mick Jagger. I read that he used to be a Labour supporter in his youth.

      However, his time in parliament has been poor. He promised to resign if prison service did not improve while he was overseeing it. He managed to give that a swerve. Apart from that, he simply toes the party line and moves up through the ranks.

  5. Peter Wood
    May 2, 2019

    Sir John,
    You may not like the idea of a General Election, but it would appear to be the only way to get rid of Mrs May, (and a large number of Remainer MP’s). It is the Parliamentary Conservative Party that is the problem, not the general Conservative Party membership.

    1. Dominic
      May 2, 2019

      Nail on the proverbial head

      1. JoolsB
        May 2, 2019

        Yep!!

    2. agricola
      May 2, 2019

      Spot on.

    3. Lifelogic
      May 2, 2019

      Indeed. But we have to replace May first with someone sensible.

      1. NickC
        May 2, 2019

        Lifelogic, Alternatively the 100 or so Leave Tory MPs could de-camp to a new Independent Conservative Party and agree a confidence and supply deal with the rump Remain Conservative Party. The price could include an ICP Chancellor and Foreign Secretary.

        1. Lifelogic
          May 2, 2019

          That will not work well under the FPTP voting system. Too many who “will always have and always will” voters!

      2. Chris
        May 2, 2019

        The prospect of an election may be the only way in which the “Brexiter” MPs will actually act to remove Theresa May.

      3. Gordon Blear
        May 3, 2019

        Which by default eliminates everyone in the current cabinet

    4. Timaction
      May 2, 2019

      Exactly. The swamp and its Civil Serpents needs clearing.

      1. Chris
        May 2, 2019

        Absolutely, Timaction.

    5. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      I am inclined to agree Peter, so what is it telling us about all those loyal party members who worked so hard and so diligently to get Conservative MPs elected, only to be double-crossed and have their wishes and views disregarded once they got to Westminster?

      Been there, done that, and it won’t ever happen again! I thought I was helping leavers. Conned is the word! Just as the public was conned by May’s Lancaster House speech.

  6. Mick
    May 2, 2019

    Was watching Mrs May in front of the heads of all the Parliamentary committees and I’m sorry to to say but Mrs May just comes across as a sincere person who really wants to honour the 2016 referendum result as well as the 2017 manifesto pledge

    1. Roy Grainger
      May 2, 2019

      Yes, she’s a very skilled liar isn’t she. As she says Williamson was responsible for the leak the best assumption is that he wasn’t.

      1. Gordon Blear
        May 3, 2019

        I think May leaked the information to stitch up a ‘leaver’ so she could replace him with Remainer

    2. Caterpillar
      May 2, 2019

      Mick,

      I think apparent sincerity is irrlevant. Three obvious cases are (i) the sociopath, (ii) the person of faith, (iii) the dumb person who is simply wrong.. In each case sincerity is apparent but you need to look at the content.

    3. Mark B
      May 2, 2019

      That or very convincing liar ?

      1. Patricia Ann Northall
        May 2, 2019

        I agree the same thought occurred to me shifting the blame to Williamson because she had messed up trying to overrule all those who advised her against this decision. If any one was guilty of security crimes it’s her agreeing to our security systems to Huawei. They had every right to accuse her of risking our security !!!

    4. agricola
      May 2, 2019

      She is a good liar. Her WA does not honour the result of the 2016 referendum. As our host has explained in forensic detail, it keeps us tied in possibly ad infinitum and at a continual cost to all of us both financial and in freedom to trade worldwide. It is a remain confidence trick devised by a remain civil service and a remain PM.

      4

    5. Grahame ASH
      May 2, 2019

      Yes, she’s a very good actress and has taken in numerous people, me included initially.

    6. What Tiler
      May 2, 2019

      Really? Then I have this bridge you might be interested in purchasing…

    7. Ian wragg
      May 2, 2019

      May has promised Merkel that she can get the surrender document signed to make us a Colony of the EU.
      She sees that as her mission in life.
      She cares not a jot for Britain and the population.

    8. Know-Dice
      May 2, 2019

      It’s not her words that are the problem, it’s her actions that are in direct contradiction to what she says…

    9. L Jones
      May 2, 2019

      Deeds not words are what we’re looking for, Mick.
      I think we’re all ”sorry to say” that Mrs May tries to act as if she were sincere, but she isn’t.

      1. Steve
        May 2, 2019

        She’s an extremely dangerous woman, and should be locked up on grounds of being a severe risk to national security.

    10. Fred H
      May 2, 2019

      Mick,
      Sincerity appears not to be required to be MPs or PM. However, most are capable of doing a pretty convincing job. Looks and words, fine speeches are all very well, but actions speak louder than words. I’m afraid so many of us were taken in.

    11. Chris
      May 2, 2019

      I thought her performance in the Committee with Sir Bernard Jenkin and Sir William Cash displayed, arrogance, evasiveness and contempt. I was utterly ashamed of her, and very angry indeed that she is abusing her power in the way she has by not honouring Brexit (and thereby not upholding democracy).

    12. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice……..

      I have to give May 10/10 for persistence though. She does try to disprove Abraham Lincoln when he said, ‘You can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time.’

      May really does think she can fool all of the people all of the time. Are such delusions really befitting of a British Prime Minister?

      1. Mitchel
        May 2, 2019

        I quite like Lincoln’s comment on the faux democracy of limited suffrage:

        “When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some other country where they make no pretense of loving liberty-to Russia,for instance,where despotism can be taken pure,without the base alloy of hypocrisy.”

        24/8/1855

        1. Tad Davison
          May 2, 2019

          Like it, but I wonder how many modern-day university graduates, conditioned in the ways of neo-liberalism, could grasp its true significance?

    13. Andy
      May 2, 2019

      Mrs May is a sincere person. She wants to deliver on the undeliverable promises Vote Leave made in 2016. Her deal is the closest that is possible.

      The problem with Brexit is not the people delivering it. The problem with Brexit is Brexit.

      At some point you will all have to acknowledge this. It would be better if you did this before you destroy our country but it’s up to you.

      1. NickC
        May 2, 2019

        Andy, VoteLeave was a campaign organisation, not a political party with a manifesto seeking government office. Just like RemaIN in fact.

        Brexit – that is, leaving the EU treaties – is perfectly deliverable as the rest of the world demonstrates. We can be as independent of the EU as New Zealand is, or India, or Canada.

        Only a few extremist Remains like you think being serfs of the EU empire in exchange for a few imported trinkets is worthwhile.

      2. Edward2
        May 2, 2019

        It’s not a deal
        It’s not Brexit
        The penny needs to drop Andy.

      3. Erimus
        May 2, 2019

        Andy, our country has been destroyed already, by those who have betrayed our democratic vote to leave the EU. The slime in the Westminster Thieves & Liars Club will reap their just rewards via the ballot box at the next General Election. The people will have their revenge on the politicians that are trying to sell them into perpetual subjugation to the Brussels Federalists.

    14. Jane
      May 2, 2019

      Well said Sir. She does want to honour the referendum result. The deal agreed to do so is not ideal and mistakes were made initially when Mr Davis was Brexit secretary.
      I shall blame the Brexiteers if Brexit is kicked in to the long grass and, if it results in another referendum. I also think the PM was right to sack Mr Williamson. Indeed I think the police should be involved too. It is wrong to compare Cabinet leaks with those from a Security Meeting. Any leak from such a meeting is an offence under the Offical Secrets Act.

      1. NickC
        May 4, 2019

        Jane, You should read Theresa May’s draft Withdrawal Agreement. If passed by Parliament it will become a treaty. As a treaty it locks us back into the EU in all but name: we end up back in a CU, complying with the SM, subject to the ECJ, paying £bns, and subject to EU military, security and diplomatic control. That is simply not Leave.

  7. margaret
    May 2, 2019

    Of course it is unfair . The way power is manipulated is offensive. The methods used to use people to undermine others is wicked . The sad thing is that it doesn’t arise out of intelligent analysis and deduction.
    We Nurses have the offensive spokes people to put us down everyday and what rules ?
    :money!
    I take 6 surgeries a week independently and have the same responsibility as any GP as far as the individual patient is concerned yet it is called the Dr’s Surgery . I am a Nurse not a Dr so it is plagiarism by practice.
    The registered medical practitioner ( called Dr by a grace and favour name) is addressed as Dr yet the Nurse as a registered Nurse will not be given her official title by those trying to down us for their own prosperity.
    Perhaps you think that this example is superfluous to your opinion yet in it’s origin it is political designed to change the way the health service continues to be arranged for the betterment of a few and not the many .
    The same people trying to gain power have called the Nurse prescriber a Non Medical prescriber. HOW OFFENSIVE! We practice medicine , have passed exams in medicine , some for more than 40 years have given their lives to medicine yet the manipulators use these terms to describe us . I am disgusted with the tactics used to let people take over my profession by political manipulation ! Politics?

    1. Dame Rita webb
      May 2, 2019

      Margaret love if you think that there is any glamour or status attached to being a NHS hospital doctor you are i being deluded

      1. Fred H
        May 2, 2019

        Dame Rita …glamour/status possibly not but the £100k and early retirement is some comfort.

      2. margaret
        May 2, 2019

        Firstly I have worked in the NHS since 1968 .mainly in secondary care on every type of setting known to my profession . I am not” love “. I think it is only respectful to use good manners and use the Nurses professional name. It is not status ; it is respect for those who give their lives for nursing and medicine and recognition of theri professionality.Who do you think you are trying to patronise? I have worked with NHS staff of all levels for 50 years . Have you ?

    2. Alison
      May 2, 2019

      Well said, Margaret. In Scotland I was told at a meeting there is a ‘senior nurse practitioner’. I asked, what’s the difference between that and a senior nurse?

      That Tory party grassroots EGM needs to be in early May, not early June.

    3. agricola
      May 2, 2019

      Margaret, my nieces best schoolfriend got so pissed off with very junior doctors entering the ICU she ran and meddling with the medical process that she resigned. She breezed through medical school and is now a GP in practice.

      Many shortages of medical personel can be laid at the doors of government and tbe restrictive practises of the various surgical colleges.

  8. Dominic
    May 2, 2019

    There is a fundamental problem and it’s called the ERG. Your decision not to threaten to smash the Tory party into smithereens is playing into May’s hands. She knows your weak and she knows she’s beaten you and still Tory Eurosceptic MPs remain loyal.

    Some Labour and Tory MPs have left their respective parties. If they can do it why can’t the ERG? Why can’t the ERG set up a separate parliamentary party?

    Why do ERG members attend PMQ’s? Your very presence is an expression of support for this PM

    It is very simple. If you stay loyal to the party and you can wave goodbye to the sovereignty, freedom and independence of the UK

    You’re are an MP of a party whose leader is conspiring with a party in the Commons that is (subject to allegations of ed) Marxist, anti-Semitic and revolutionary. May’s behaviour is bordering on sedition and the ERG is encouraging her actions by not leaving the party

    Moral Labour died in the 1960’s. It is now Marxist Labour. The Tory party died in 1990.

    1. JoolsB
      May 2, 2019

      Well said Dominic. Totally agree.

    2. James Bertram
      May 2, 2019

      Thank you, Sir John, for your article today on the BrexitFacts4EU website.
      You will see that my comment to that article fairly much echoes Dominic’s comments above.
      Forming the Real Tory Party, and bringing this quisling Government down, is now the only way forward if you wish to do what is best for this country, and for democracy (it is also best for the Tory party in the long-run, if you later decide to re-unite; otherwise, if you carry on as you are, you face oblivion).
      You must bite the bullet, and get on with it.
      Good luck.

    3. Chris
      May 2, 2019

      I believe you are right, Dominic. There is an additional problem in that some of the so called Brexiteers are still hanging on thinking that the backstop is the only problem with the WA – hence assigning Nicky Morgan and Greg Hands (?) to investigate matters. How dim can they be?

    4. Andy
      May 2, 2019

      The Tory Party is being smashed to smithereens out in the country, on the doorstep. They called here on Monday – very late in the day – to ask if I would allow them to put posters up on my trees etc leading into the village where I live. I refused. I told the guy I would never support them or have anything to do with them until the evil Mrs May was gone and they had honoured the 2016 Referendum. Today I wont be voting and later this month it will be for Nigel Farage.

      1. Tad Davison
        May 2, 2019

        Good on ya!

        I’m in a similar predicament, except no Tory has yet ventured onto my property. I did look down the candidate’s list though and found a representative from a proper pro-Brexit party.

        My family have done the same. Just a handful of votes, but they all count. If enough people do the same, it sends a collective message of discontent and dissatisfaction that no party in their right mind can ignore.

      2. Timaction
        May 2, 2019

        I voted Green today, bloody Green!! Anyone other than the legacies particularly the Tory’s to show my disgust of the Party and the rest of them still having May as their leader. There was no other choice than to spoil my ballet! We really need change and quite soon as the Country is on the brink of explosion.
        Politicos have well overstepped the mark of normal convention. The lies are extreme and in the age of the internet they still think they can lie and scheme with immunity! Incredible.

      3. Steve
        May 2, 2019

        Andy

        So, if the trees are situated leading to the village where you live, how are they YOUR trees ?

        I think you slipped up there.

        Otherwise I agree with your sentiment. In fact you are lucky to have tory activists knocking on your door, where I live they wouldn’t dare, which is a disappointment since I would love to show them what wrath looks like.

        1. Andy
          May 2, 2019

          Steve,
          I own the land and thus the trees. I have allowed ‘Vote Tory’ posters to be attached to them or stakes to be hammered in since inheriting the land 30+ years ago. I thought calling and asking on Monday was very late in the day, but I have seen no Vote Tory posters anywhere in the locality. The guy said mine was not an unusual reaction to which my retort was ‘I bet it’s not’.

        2. Fedupsoutherner
          May 2, 2019

          Steve, I’ve had nobody knock on my door. I wish a Conservative would so I could speak plainly and with no ambiguity.

  9. J Bush
    May 2, 2019

    Bercow announced yesterday he had received notification from the petition officer for the constituency of Peterborough, in respect of the recall petition for Fiona Onasanya. The Peterborough MP has been kicked out of Parliament by her constituents.

    Why can’t ‘conservative’ MP’s be removed by this process?

    1. jerry
      May 2, 2019

      @J Bush; They could, if they get jailed for less that 12 months and enough voters in the constituency think there should be a Recall. It is not a process simply to be used because some people dislike a current MP!

      1. Tad Davison
        May 2, 2019

        You’re right of course jerry, but I’m wondering where contempt of parliament might fall on the spectrum of redress?

        Surely May cannot just shrug her shoulders and not give a tinkers curse when the government she ‘leads’ is found guilty of such an indiscretion?

        Were the people of Maidenhead to get rid of May, they might well go down in history as our nation’s saviours.

        1. jerry
          May 2, 2019

          Who would make the judgement call though Tad, after all one man’s contempt if another’s rightful use of parliamentary or governmental procedure, how long before the PM or senior Cabinet members are targeted by your idea of a recall system having used such parliamentary or governmental procedure to defend something you believe in?

          Be very careful of setting precedents that your political opponents will also find effective, using them against your own interests…

          1. Tad Davison
            May 3, 2019

            Wise words, but there has to be a more effective way for the people to hold the executive to account or they can get away with anything.

    2. Lifelogic
      May 2, 2019

      They can but only if an MP is found guilty of a wrongdoing that fulfils certain criteria. Cameron failed to put in place an effective recall system controlled by the voters. They really do not want much democracy at all.

      1. Tad Davison
        May 2, 2019

        Agreed.

        Cameron must have been far-sighted, and knew that May and her cohorts would succeed him. He knew what a balls she would make of everything she touched and didn’t want a sure-fire mechanism to get rid of errant individuals in case two-thirds of the parliamentary Tory party got sacked by their voters.

    3. Bob
      May 2, 2019

      “Why can’t ‘conservative’ MP’s be removed by this process?”

      Starting with Theresa May.

    4. Know-Dice
      May 2, 2019

      May got 64.8% of the vote in 2017 for Maidenhead, so she certainly could be ousted if the local people got together and organised a petition – where is Denis Cooper when he is needed? 🙂

      1. Tad Davison
        May 2, 2019

        The gaffer upset him, but I hope Denis can re-join us.

        He was the best poster on this site by a long way. Always forensic and clinical in his dissertations and sorely missed. I seldom disagreed with him, although I did on the issue of May’s Withdrawal Agreement which I saw as highly dangerous chicanery by a very duplicitous, cynical, and nasty untrustworthy individual.

      2. Mark B
        May 2, 2019

        Yes, where is, Denis ?

        I asked this yesterday of our kind host.

    5. Al
      May 2, 2019

      For the recall process to be initiated against an MP by their constituents, that MP has to have been subject to a custodial or suspended sentence, barred from the House of Commons for ten days, or convicted of misleading Parliament about expenses under the Parliamentary Standards Act. To the best of my knowledge, these criteria are not fulfilled by the PM.

      If a recall petition could be launched ten percent of Ms. May’s constituents would have to sign it to get the by-election enforced. However as long as she was a member of the party, Ms. May could stand in that by-election. Sadly there’s no will in the party to remove her, so it would most likely come to nothing.

      1. Tad Davison
        May 2, 2019

        No will in the BULK of the parliamentary party to remove May – perhaps, because they are of her inclination and sadly, her disposition too being pro-EU. But that’s not what I hear at grassroots level. I cannot find a single activist who has a good word to say for her and would see the back of her at the drop of a hat.

        Let’s not forget though the good men like Andrew Bridgen who saw through that woman early on and have never made a secret of their disdain for her unethical stance or pro-EU ways.

    6. matthu
      May 2, 2019

      I think you have to either lie about a speeding offence or diddle your expenses before you come to the attention of the speaker.

      Bullying, or deliberately lying about the impact of a treaty you are trying to sign the country up to, or simply dishonouring all of your manifesto pledges and putting two fingers up to the people who were taken in by the pledges of the previous PM don’t provide sufficient cause it seems.

      1. Tad Davison
        May 2, 2019

        I agree, but they should.

        Honesty and integrity should be at the forefront of every political campaign, and the watchwords of every politician. Anything else is a betrayal. We elect them to do our bidding and trust we have chosen wisely. Any politician who goes back on their word or uses florid ambiguous language, as did Theresa May yesterday, to wriggle out of prior commitments should be subjected to a recall.

      2. Lifelogic
        May 2, 2019

        Indeed.

  10. Richard1
    May 2, 2019

    The May-Corbyn Brino it now seems we will end up with is such a parody of Brexit it should be clear Remain would be a better option. It is also clear we will not just leave On WTO terms. Time therefore for Brexiteers to back a 2nd referendum with leave / remain & also if leave then Brino / WTO?

    (BTW did people make a note of which Conservative MPs were cheering in the HoC committee room when May got voted back in?)

    1. Caterpillar
      May 2, 2019

      Richard 1,

      Mostly agreed but not with the transferable second choice element implied by ‘if”. Three choices on ballot (remain, the WA, just leave), 1 vote only. If Remain is greater than 52% of valid votes cast and greater than 17.4 million votes and greater than 37% of the electorate then UK remains. If this is not the case then the higher of the other two choices is followed.

      1. Richard1
        May 2, 2019

        That would split the leave vote. I think if it happens there needs to be a clear majority for the route chosen.

        1. Caterpillar
          May 2, 2019

          That does not split the leave vote. It requires remain to beat what leave achieved in the first referendum to demonstrate a clear change, if not then the highest of the two leave options wins. It ensures only people who vote leave choose how to leave and that remain voters do not change the ordering favoured by leave voters of remain should not win.

          (If Remain win then remain voters have decided what happwns, if leave wins then leave voters have decided what happens)

          Richard 1, read it again more carefully.

    2. William1995
      May 2, 2019

      Unfortunately you can be sure Gove was one

    3. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Last year, I bought a new car. It was what my wife and I wanted. Comfort, space, economy, and very quick. Why should I go out and buy another one this year because some third party told me I had made a mistake and they didn’t like what I bought first time around?

      Being of coarse working-class stock, I think people can well imagine what my response would be, just as my response is to those who suggest I didn’t get it right when I voted to leave the EU in 2016 and we need to vote again. (here’s a clue – the second word is ‘off’)

      1. Caterpillar
        May 2, 2019

        Tad Davison,

        Last year (3 years ago) you agreed to swap your car and now this year, when your new car is being delivered, you discover it has an unspecified price and you can’t steer it! You might wish to think again. Richard 1 merely wants you to have the chance to keep the better original car (you can steer it a bit, though it is not always responsive) or demand a car that goes where you want and costs less (you didn’t get that car last year, even if you thought you did).

        1. Tad Davison
          May 2, 2019

          I can’t quite make out if you’re trying to justify to me why I should keep a broken-down 60-year-old expensive to run inefficient wallowing wreck that struggles to keep up with modern times, in preference to a sleek new model that would save me a fortune, is a lot more reliable, and handles beautifully.

          The chugging old EU model has been superseded and eclipsed. If only politicians could see there are better ways to run an economy than the one they seem to want to attach us to in perpetuity.

          Alas……we cannot get that message across to those without the capacity to see it as we do.

          1. Caterpillar
            May 3, 2019

            Tad Davison,

            I think the only way you’ll get the new model is with a second referendum, otherwise you’ll get something worse than the old.

          2. Tad Davison
            May 3, 2019

            So I need to get a new car before I’ve even properly evaluated the one I bought last year. As someone who is familiar with writing car reviews, that takes time to do it justice.

            This on the say-so of sore losers who want to declare my democratic vote in a properly held referendum, null and void because they didn’t like the outcome.

            And you can see nothing wrong with that!

    4. Andy
      May 2, 2019

      Why should ‘Remain’ be on the ballot ?? That question was put and an answer given. Just because people like Cooper, Grieve, Letwin, Sourberry et all didn’t agree with the answer is no reason to ask it again.

      If you want another Referendum then the question can only be the evil May’s deal or leave on WTO terms.

    5. Sulis
      May 2, 2019

      Remain should not be an option at all. We have had a vote and the majority voted to Leave. A second referendum should only be to help clarify what Leave means.

  11. Andy
    May 2, 2019

    To be fair to Mrs May she appears to say that she has evidence that the former Defence Secretary broke the law. She had no choice but to sack him. (Though she should have referred it to the police too).

    I am surprised Mr Williamson has been blamed. I thought this fiasco had the ( prints of another named person ed)

    As for the Brexiteer / Remain balance – are there even any credible Brexiteers left who have not already quit the government or been fired? I can’t think of any. Unless you want John Mann to do it.

    1. Lifelogic
      May 2, 2019

      She may “appear to say” but clearly does not say (in her carefully worded letter) that she has any such evidence at all! So one assumes she does not have.

      1. Lifelogic
        May 2, 2019

        She has also not referred it to the police it seems so again this supports the fact that she has no real evidence.

      2. hefner
        May 2, 2019

        Isn’t a 11 minute phone call from GW to the DT journalist responsible for the subsequent article not a clue? The DM’s Peter Oborne is right today. And Sir John is wrong who cannot make the difference between a leak from the Cabinet and one from the National Security Council.

        1. Lifelogic
          May 2, 2019

          Those who where for and agin the Chinese Company were largely know to journalists well before this meeting took place.

    2. agricola
      May 2, 2019

      If she has the evidence she should be forced to produce it in a court of law. The offence is serious as it contravenes the Official Secrets Act.
      I suspect she has just used it as a convenient excuse to clear out someone who does not share her remain agenda.

      1. Fred H
        May 2, 2019

        I don’t think reporting who voted for what in the Council would contravene the Official Secrets Act. It might not have been wise to do so, but breaking the law is a different matter. Sadly I doubt I can find whatever paperwork I signed rather long ago.

    3. James1
      May 2, 2019

      So the Peterborough by-election is to be held on 6 June. How appropriate. D-day. Doubtless many in that 63% leave voting constituency will see it as Democracy-day.

  12. jerry
    May 2, 2019

    There is a stench around Westminster, and in my opinion it is being emitted from Downing Street. Three words comes to mind, Judge, Jury & Executioner

    You are quite correct Sir John, there has been no proper independent enquiry, considering that this (so called) ‘leak’ could have come from anywhere in Government or even the senior Civil Service, indeed there might not have even been any one single ‘leak’, just good journalism adding up several much smaller clues and reaching the correct much larger conclusion – which instantly got confirmed by the now usual off-the-wall reaction from within a failing PM’s office.

    This reminds me of both the R4 Today Iraqi WMD report and (less so) to the “Westland Affair”, neither ended happily for the PM of the day and I doubt it will end well for the current PM either, failing PM’s need to build bridges, not burn them, never mind make the back benches even more restless!

    1. Edward2
      May 2, 2019

      Agree totally.

  13. Lifelogic
    May 2, 2019

    It seems to me to that Gavin Williamson is almost certainly telling the truth. Otherwise he would surely have merely resigned and apologised for having perhaps been accidentally a little indiscreet in a conversation with someone or perhaps overheard by someone. We already know, after all, that Theresa May is a serial liar, traitor and the worst PM in my lifetime (with stiff competition from Major and others). It also seems she is now trying to shut the matter down in case it becomes even more clear that T May and her Cabinet Secretary are totally wrong on this matter.

    To do it on the day before the local election seem a very idiotic thing to have done. She really seems very determined indeed to destroy the party?

    Penny Mordaunt may perhaps still be a leaver or more likely a leaver in name only, but woryingly I note that she thinks we should all pay taxes so the NHS fund homeopathic treatments on the NHS. Let us hope she is not going to waste money on homeopathic defence systems.

    Excellent piece as usual by ALLISTER HEATH today in the Telegraph.
    “The Tories should be allying with Nigel Farage, not Jeremy Corbyn”.

    1. outsider
      May 2, 2019

      Dear Lifelogic, Mr Williamson’s denial, put in a needlessly extreme form, leaves a binary situation. Either he leaked and then formally lied about it (perhaps the greater political sin) or he did not leak, is telling the truth and has been traduced by the PM.
      As you say re Andy’s comment, the PM’s public letter is carefully worded. But the universal interpretation of it makes the meaning clear and extremely damaging to Mr Williamson. So I imagine that it would be open to him to sue for libel, another interesting constitutional innovation.

    2. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      ‘To do it on the day before the local election seem a very idiotic thing to have done. She really seems very determined indeed to destroy the party?’

      That crossed my mind too, but I think she really wanted to look tough, decisive, and in control. It’s not the first time she has got things so drastically wrong, and I bet it isn’t the last. She has no compass or sense of direction.

      Williamson ought to call her out on it, and not worry too much about loyalty and party unity – the very thing that always seems to hobble the ERG when they play the game like gentlemen. Their opponents aren’t gentlemen, and it’s time they recognised that fact. This party is sinking fast.

      1. Lifelogic
        May 2, 2019

        It is indeed.

    3. Mark B
      May 2, 2019

      The Tories are the party of the EU. They took us in and golly they determined to keep is in.

      1. Lifelogic
        May 2, 2019

        They are and they are wrong in this.

  14. Peter Miller
    May 2, 2019

    Words fail me. The litany of incompetence, bad judgement and plain stupidity seems never ending.

    Added to that comes treachery, if a customs union is agreed with Labour next week, treachery to all those and especially Tory party members who voted to get out of the European Union at the last, and now seemingly pointless, referendum.

    She – whose name cannot be spoken – truly deserves the title of ‘Worst UK Prime Minister in Modern Times’.

    1. Fred H
      May 2, 2019

      Peter … only modern times?

    2. NickC
      May 2, 2019

      Peter Miller, A customs union is already in May’s dWA. It’s under Article 6 and is called the “single customs territory”.

  15. agricola
    May 2, 2019

    If Onasanya can be removed as an MP for lying, then why is May still an MP. She has lied to the electorate, to the HoC so many times. It should all be in Hansard and her speeches. Is it left to her constituency party or are there rules in the HoC that can be appled. In the past many have fallen on their sword for a single lie.
    The PMs lies have been multiple. Does it require the results of the local, and EU elections before the penny drops among your colleagues or are you all happy to disappear from political life after the next GE.

  16. Richard1
    May 2, 2019

    Notwithstanding their slightly different views in Brexit substituting Rory Stewart for Gavin Williamson seems like an upgrade to me. But there are at least 1/2 doz other non-entities in the cabinet who need to go when we finally get rid of mrs May, including people like Greg Clarke who Has not, so far, had the intellectual honesty and guts to stand up to the green blob over fracking. Do we really have to sacrifice this tremendously valuable potential industry (which would also reduce CO2 emissions materially) because we are too cowed by the shrieking green mob?

  17. Nigl
    May 2, 2019

    And Penny Mordaunt allegedly an avowed Leaver has sat in her hands and gets rewarded with a top job. She’s got firm. Very vocal on issues about Portsmouth dockyard then suddenly quiet when recruited as a junior defence minister.

    Rory Stewart has been like Mays lap dog.

    So no principles, forget the democratic vote, sell out to achieve personal ambition.

    Presumably Williamson can vote against HMG, I wonder if he has the cojones? I suspect not.

  18. Lifelogic
    May 2, 2019

    Rory Stewart has been May’s chief turd polisher on TV for some time. He is quite good at it I suppose, but it is still very clearly a putrid Brexit in name only treaty – worse even than remain and far, far worse than a real Brexit.

    He is “good” in the same way that Jeremy Hunt was “good” at apologising for the endless dire NHS failures (yet doing nothing about them). I see we finally have the inquiries into the blood contamination scandal (and appalling cover up and document destruction) plus a new criminal inquiry launched into the up to 450 Gosport “premature” hospital deaths.

    Just to remind us how appalling the virtual state monopoly NHS so often is.

    1. Mitchel
      May 2, 2019

      There’s something of the simpering Uriah Heep about him!

  19. steadyeddie
    May 2, 2019

    Better if you presented facts Sir John- Penny Mordant has taken over from Williamson and she is a strong leave voice. Rory Stewart is a talented and thoughtful politician who happens to support our PM.

    1. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      My oh my! A talented and thoughtful politician! He who wanted to do away with short prison sentences. I said to my sister last night, if Rory Stewart had gone to my school, he would have been one of the first kids to get ‘flushed’. Another gutless wonder who is out of touch with reality and you bull him up!

      Beggars belief! How the hell can we ever get real change unless we get real men!

    2. Caterpillar
      May 2, 2019

      Steadyeddie, what type of thoughtful?

      Rory Stewart who made up the 80% of electorate support May’s deal statistic, then took it back when challenged. Rory Stewart who associates a clean Brexit with “extreme right politics”.

    3. Chris
      May 2, 2019

      If she were a strong leave voice she would not be in the Cabinet still supporting Theresa May. In my view, she is a fake eurosceptic, and an opportunist. I certainly would never vote for her, nor trust her.

  20. Fedupsoutherner
    May 2, 2019

    When are you leaving the party John. The time has come to seriously think whether you want to belong to such a treasonous party or do the decent thing and join a party people are going to respect. There is nothing to vote for in your party except insanity.

    1. Fred H
      May 2, 2019

      You Sir John, and like minded colleagues, need to resign the whip and say to your electorate that you will stand as an Ind, given that you find it impossible to have confidence in the Party and present government.

  21. Richard Elsy
    May 2, 2019

    The defenestration of Gavin Williamson arouses conflicting emotions in many of us. I rather disliked the man and felt that he’d been over promoted to Chief Whip. As Secretary of State for Defence, I considered him utterly ill-equipped. Nevertheless, I suggest that he’s been unfairly dismissed on the flimsiest of evidence from the Civil Service with the strong suggestion of other motives in play. I’d bet that Huawei arranged the leak and the trail to the alleged source of the leak. How’s that for an ironic conspiracy? Rory the Tory, is a ‘popular’ choice to step up in Mordaunt’s place at DfID although his popularity in Penrith, 53.3% Leave, is on the wane. We have another Remain Tory MP in Cumbria backing the PM’s bogus ‘deal’ and he’s likely to lose his seat next time round. Rory has Willie Whitelaw’s old seat and about 15,000 majority. It would take an earthquake to shift him. I wouldn’t rule this out. I gather that all isn’t well in the local Party Association and it’s a very small place, even including the other towns which make up Penrith and the Borders. They may not all get together; they are very independent of each other. They will, however, get wind of any dissatisfaction with the MP they share and I gather that many people have about had enough of the stupid games being played by their MPs, both in Penrith and Carlisle where the Conservative MP sits for a Leave constituency with a fragile majority. There’s something in the air in these parts and it ain’t sounding very good for the Conservative Party I’m afraid. Hark to Private Fraser in Dad’s Army – ‘We’re doomed! We’re all doomed!’. Possibly. Very possibly. Entirely possible.

    1. NickC
      May 2, 2019

      Richard Elsy, Yes I think we are now witnessing the death throes of the Conservative party. It’s interesting that the Labour party no longer represents the labouring man; the LibDems are neither liberal nor democratic; and the Conservative party is neither patriotic nor conservative.

  22. Caterpillar
    May 2, 2019

    It is telling that PM May sees the matter as closed, but it appears that Mr Williamson would like either a formal or police inquiry. Either (1) this is a setup and a vindictive or tactical sacking by the PM or (2) Mr Williamson thinks the 5G decision is so bad that he is prepared to put career and freedom in the line.

    1. Caterpillar
      May 2, 2019

      Another issue that I find disturbing here is the apparent control of the Civil Service over Government at The moment. The WA appears to be due to Olly Robbins (outside the Dept for Exiting EU), the sacking of Mr Williamson seems to be due to Sir Mark Sedwill (without full formal enquiry or police enquiry). Democracy in action.

      1. Man of Kent
        May 2, 2019

        Absolutely correct !

        The Civil Service are now in a privileged position , they make policy for May without having the responsibility in Parliament , or elsewhere of justifying and defending their ideas .
        How often are they called before a select committee ?

        She just lies and stonewalls in defence of their policies .

        The BBC describes any criticism of the Civil Service in terms of ‘….and the poor dears cannot answer back , you are just taking cheap shots at our best and brightest without them having any right of reply ……’

        It is an effective combination once you accept that the aim is EU penal servitude for the UK for life

      2. Timaction
        May 2, 2019

        Bet he doesn’t have any formal or informal investigation skills either. Perhaps he went on a hunch?

  23. Bryan Harris
    May 2, 2019

    So May’s reaction to getting something done is to surround herself with sycophants and get rid of those that might have a different view by slandering them.

    These are not the actions of a decent honest PM, and show once more how unfit she is to be in number 10.

    What happened to the coup on May? – She must go NOW

  24. Stuart
    May 2, 2019

    I have a growing suspicion that Mrs. May is merely a rather vain, unintelligent puppet whose strings are being controlled by those who only have their own interests at heart. Mark Sedwill is one such person. As well as being rid of May, we need a thorough clearing out of our enemies in Whitehall.

  25. […] The indispensable Sir John Redwood observes in his Diary today: […]

  26. hans christian ivers
    May 2, 2019

    Sir JR,

    I am sorry but you are turning a serious leak from a high security meeting into another for or against Brexit debate.

    A leak that should never have happened no matter who did it, it is a serious breach.

    Your argument in this context is just not particularly well argued nor particular relevant, for the subject at hand

    1. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Tell me, do you know for certain Williamson is innocent or guilty?

      On the face of it, as it stands, this looks like the May government is making a political scapegoat. If you have any evidence to the contrary, we’d be pleased to hear it.

    2. Man of Kent
      May 2, 2019

      Dear HCI – the only trouble is that there was nothing of a high security nature in the leak .
      The subject was raised by the D Telegraph as evidence that TM had over-ruled the rest of the Committee and thereby set us against the USA and Australia and potentially sabotaging our intelligence sharing arrangements .

      This is not a high security leak ; it is a leak of the greatest public concern for our future foreign and security policy .

      We are being led down the path of cutting ties with the USA while embracing the EU foreign , security and defence policies under their Commissioner with little say in the matter.

      Another national disgrace with huge implications for our future .

    3. Steve
      May 2, 2019

      HCI

      Hard luck!
      WE say his article is excellent.

      Moreover you persist in referring to matters which are British matters, nothing to do with you.

      1. NickC
        May 2, 2019

        Steve, Hans would say his UK citizenship entitles him to sell out his adopted country to a foreign power. Clear? – me neither.

        1. hans christian ivers
          May 3, 2019

          NickC,

          You lost the logic on this one

      2. hans christian ivers
        May 2, 2019

        Steve,

        As a British citizen as I am you re just full of nonsense

        1. NickC
          May 4, 2019

          Hans, You just confirmed my logic.

    4. NickC
      May 2, 2019

      Hans, On the other hand, most of us think that handing over our secrets to our enemies (oops, sorry, our not-friends) such as the EU and China, isn’t a sound idea.

      1. hans christian ivers
        May 3, 2019

        NickC
        there is full transparency on all intelligence gathering between the Danes and Brits and we have had it for years, because we fight wars together.
        (Kosovo, Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan.)

        1. NickC
          May 4, 2019

          Hans, Full transparency? No there isn’t. And you are a fool to suppose so.

        2. Nicholas Murphy
          May 5, 2019

          This veteran thinks that you are wrong.

      2. Mitchel
        May 3, 2019

        As opposed to the USA which snoops on everyone(thank you,Edward Snowdon and Wikileaks) and controls the software of the weapon systems we buy from them-now you know why President Erdogan is determined to have that Russian air defence system.

  27. Edwardm
    May 2, 2019

    Mrs May shows herself to be a ruthless operator. She is not letting anyone stand in the way of her utter treachery.
    Unbelievably she has not been removed – which sadly means many MPs are being complicit.
    Every act to frustrate Brexit only increases the already inflamed anger out in the country, which I am sure is shared by the ERG.

    It looks like the conservative cause is in need of a new home.

    1. NickC
      May 2, 2019

      EdwardM, Mrs May appears to have overlooked the fact that her dishonesty has infected the body politic. Her Remain agenda is in the ascendency, a national vote has cynically been discarded, Ministers and MPs, as well as the public, have been persistently lied to. Now anything goes, because the standard set at the top is in the gutter.

  28. Shieldsman
    May 2, 2019

    What game is Jeremy Corbyn playing?
    Whilst keeping Theresa May dangling, he is cosying up to both Leavers and Remainers, hoping both will continue to vote Labour today.
    In the NEC decision he engineered, with an option for a referendum he keeps the vote of Leave supporters and does not close the door to an agreement on the Withdrawal Agreement with the PM.
    He must know the Conservative/Labour agreement can only be implemented under the Political Declaration, provided the Withdrawal Agreement has won a Parliamentary vote.
    Once the Withdrawal Agreement passes in Parliament we have left the EU, entered the transition period under its terms, then proceed to the Political Declaration.
    At this stage a peoples vote ( second referendum) becomes irrelevant, as we have left the EU and the agreement on Customs Union etc. cannot be overthrown.
    The majority of Labour MP’s want a second referendum and Tom Watson and his supporters must be wise to this.
    Any Conservative/Labour agreement cannot be kept secret and will be picked over before MP’s will vote on WA4. Labour MP’s having rejected the Withdrawal Agreement three times and will need some persuading. A clean Brexit is not dead.

  29. Adam
    May 2, 2019

    Knowledge of “which Cabinet members opposed Mrs May’s wish to let a Chinese company into the UK 5G system” could have been known by many people. If revealing that info is the defined leak, leakage could have been caused by anyone aware, irrespective of who attended the crucial meeting in the investigators’ focus.

    The investigation identified GW as suspected. Mrs May, in response probably applied proper judgement in removing him. Penny Mordaunt seems likely to be a more suited Minister of Defence.

    If GW is innocent or not, truth should emerge in due course as truth is the only outcome that fits everything, whether Telegraphed or merely implied.

  30. Kevin
    May 2, 2019

    There is something surreal about politics at the moment. For example, I am
    obviously grateful that Bill Cash may be launching a legal challenge against the
    means by which Article 50 has been extended. At the same time, he has been
    making “business-as-usual” statements in Parliament about his opposition to HS2;
    yet, after more than thirty days, our democracy remains suspended.

    Right now, we are expecting Mrs. May and Mr. Corbyn to present us with the
    outline for Vassal State 2.0. Perhaps I have an incomplete picture of history,
    but I would be surprised if the democrats in Tiananmen Square had
    interrupted their protests to petition the government to reduce the level of
    noise at the local airport. What would this country do if the current Parliament decided that
    sovereignty rested with them, and that there would be no future elections that could
    oust them? Would we just sit back and ask them to invest in infrastructure and
    nanotechnology?

  31. Fred H
    May 2, 2019

    What a storm in a teacup. So a leak showed dissent in Security discussions. It was pretty obvious what the concerns were about for some time prior. This simply clarified things. Again our PM does what she wants, don’t you dare oppose.

  32. stred
    May 2, 2019

    This sacking over secrecy and loyalty to May is the way that she has always worked as a political head officer of the civil service. They have not accepted the result of the referendum and she works with them.

    When the top police and justice officers wanted the European Arrest Warrant and an end to British justice applicable to extradition, she quietly put it through without proper debate. When the EU armed forces took form, after denial that there was such a plan, she signed up secretly, without debate or publicity, for British forces to join and be commanded by EU officers, descibed by a civil servant as the KitKat ruse. When the Department for Leaving was making progress, she took her pro-federal Europe civil servant into her office and had him secretly negotiate the Chequers capitulation and sprung it on the ministers, happily accepting their resignations.

    She negotiated the Withdrawl Treaty with even worse clauses which bind the UK into EU law for years and probably never leaving, again secretly. The civil servant felt confident to leak that we would delay leaving. He knew May’s secret plan before anyone else. The head of the civil service was May’s head in the Home Office and she made him head to ensure loyalty and secrecy.

    During the past years she and Hammond, acting for big business, secretly slowed progress to leave with no deal, ensuring that there was an excuse not to leave except through the false WA Brino. When civil servants loyal to the UK actually made much progress and leaked that WTO was possible, Sedwill took the work back into May’s department and ensured no further leaks hen cancelled any more work. When begging for her extension, May authorised civil servants to sign an agreement that the UK would not leave under WTO during the period while she planned to bring her ‘deal’ back for the fourth time and push it through with Starmer’s version of Brino.

    When the naive Williamson became unreliable and favoured actually leaving and also went native and, like many top brass, became worried about her plans to join the EU security at the expense of the 5 eyes anglo system, he was dead before he knew it. There will be no enquiry, in case it was a civil servant loyal to the UK that leaked her plan to use Chinese equipment against the advice of the security ministers. That would be too much for the plotters.

  33. Everhopeful
    May 2, 2019

    Well.its local elections day today and I doubt if any of the shenanigans will help either Tory or Labour.
    Still..they don’t care do they?
    We are now “post democratic”.
    “Post industrial” turned out to mean no more coal, steel, cars, jobs, unions.
    “Post democratic” means no more freedom.
    Our votes only counted when we made the “right” choices.

  34. Bob
    May 2, 2019

    Mrs May has lost confidence in Mr Williamson, so she sacked him.
    Britain has lost confidence in Theresa May, can we sack her?

    As I said several weeks ago, the only way out of this quagmire is a General Election.
    You need to do whatever you can to bring one about.

  35. Alan Joyce
    May 2, 2019

    Dear Mr. Redwood,

    One does not know whether to laugh or cry!

    The Prime Minister says to Mr. Williamson “she could no longer have full confidence in him.” If he was the source of the leak then as you say then all he did was leak which Cabinet members opposed Mrs May’s wish to let a Chinese company into the UK 5G system.

    Having bungled Brexit, trashed democracy and humiliated the country, I wonder if there is anybody left in the whole country, except for cabinet toadies and conservative MP lobby fodder, who has the slightest shred of confidence left in this truly dreadful leader of our country?

    I’m off now to the polling station to let the Conservative Party know what I think of their wretched party.

  36. JoolsB
    May 2, 2019

    John, it is a stitch up by one of the most devious and duplicitous, and that’s being polite, PMs in history and still you support her Government. She has destroyed your party John and she has betrayed the country. When will you see what we see, that the party calling itself Conservative is now a party of Liberal lefties and you need to walk away and form a new party – maybe join Farage. If the ERG joined them they would be unstoppable in my opinion.

    May states no confidence in Williamson so she has sacked him. Most of the country including her own MPs have no confidence in May and she refuses to go. You just couldn’t make it up.

  37. Sharon Jagger
    May 2, 2019

    The situation in this country has become dire. The authoritarian mentally of the EU and decades of deliberate brainwashing, has penetrated our parliament, hence so many remainers. Mrs May is behaving in quite a dictatorial manner, she lies, bullies and is quite ruthless. Gavin Williamson is a good defence secretary and a leaver….prepared to stand up for our armed forces and our country. Hence, he had to be got rid of….whether guilty of the leak or not!

    Teresa May is utterly toxic, and unless or until she goes we will likely end up with a terrible serfdom deal. As a lifelong Conservative voter, it saddens me but I too believe that LibLabCon parties need decimating. I understand your loyalty mr Redwood, but things will never change, but only get worse unless this happens. It’s the stark reality I’m afraid!

    The electorate sees this clearly and they are now fighting back – mostly for democracy! Someone recently said it’s The People versus Parliament, and I’d say never a truer word has been said!

    1. Lifelogic
      May 2, 2019

      As a lifelong Conservative voter (other than for the Appalling Major, the second time, and at EU elections), it saddens me too.

  38. BOF
    May 2, 2019

    This leak once again exposed the PM’s controlling nature in forcing her will on the Cabinet. Also her lack of concern for security having already allowed Chinese influence in Hinkley C as well as signing up our armed forces and security services to very close involvement with the EU.

    I expect that what made her most angry was the exposure of her involvement in the decision making. Were I a conspiracy theorist I would expect the leak and sacking of Mr Williamson to have been an inside job!

  39. ChrisS
    May 2, 2019

    It’s good to see that you have finally taken the gloves off in respect of the Prime Minister. She has made some catastrophic decisions, not least over the conduct of Brexit, which have led to the appalling deal that satisfies nobody other than Brussels.

    Now she is going against the advice and decisions made by our two most important Five Eyes Partners, Australia and the USA.

    Agreeing to allow Huawei to participate in our 5G network is a tremendous security risk and one that is certainly not worth contemplating, especially when the only possible “advantage” is that it might save a few bob. It’s unsurprising that the idea is backed by Hammond !

    The Five Eyes Partnership is our most important security consideration after NATO and this crass decision puts our full participation in it at risk. I suspect that one of the first acts of the next Prime Minister will be to reverse the decision.

    May has truly turned out to be the worst Prime Minister, at least since Anthony Eden.
    She needs to be removed. Immediately.

    1. ChrisS
      May 2, 2019

      PS : Like millions of other Conservative supporters, we will not be voting in the Local Elections today in order to send the strongest possible message to the Prime Minister.

      If May is daft enough to hold the European Elections we will most certainly be voting for Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.

    2. Mitchel
      May 3, 2019

      Anthony Eden wasn’t that bad actually-his vision for postwar Europe:alliances with France and the Soviet Union to constrain Germany;the Americans to have a limited presence,was much better than that of Churchill and,later,Macmillan who,without much thought, rolled us ever deeper into an American Empire which subsequently required us to be integrated into Europe.

  40. William1995
    May 2, 2019

    May continues the purge of people with opposing views to her. It was a mistake to elect her as leader in the first place, it was a mistake to vote confidence in her in December, and it is an ongoing mistake to let her continue destroying the Conservatives in the hope that she can one day be gotten rid of. Indeed she can, but there may not be a party to take over at this rate.

    If I were a Conservative Brexiteer, I would spend every waking moment figuring out how to get rid of May. It is no good making the same old argument “let’s just leave on XX/XX/XX”. That clearly isn’t going to happen. Get real!

  41. A.Sedgwick
    May 2, 2019

    GW has been stitched up like a kipper, the woman is beyond belief and is very seriously worrying. Leaver MPs sitting on their hands, as you all are, will let the May/Corbyn deal go through and the country will be well and truly stuffed.

  42. Simeon
    May 2, 2019

    A stopped Andy is at least right twice a day. Williamson is an even less credible ‘Brexiter’ than Johnson, Raab and Rees Mogg. Clearly no cabinet member is a Brexiter as, by definition, they support, and vote for, the WA.

    Regarding the issue of journalists protecting their sources, though Swinford could clearly not reveal his source, could he not at least say it wasn’t Williamson, were this true. I recognise the wrinkle is that there may have been multiple sources, in which case, if Williamson is one of them, he can have no complaints. (Leaking from the NSC is of a different order of magnitude than leaking from Cabinet.) That said, Sir John is right to observe that, nevertheless, there is clearly inconsistency of approach in addressing leaks. But then, what do we expect from this government?

  43. Dominic
    May 2, 2019

    It’s very simple. Either you collapse the Tory party or a May-Corbyn alliance will destroy British democracy, British sovereignty and British independence

    There is a grand betrayal taking place right before our very eyes and an establishment on our democracy is now under way

    Events are coming to a head. I can smell the change in dynamic. We can all see the propaganda being ramped up.

    Anti-May cabinet members being purged and the ERG sit back like it’s just another day in the office.

    There is nothing the British voter can do to stop this treachery except stop voting Tory and stop voting Marxist Labour

    Our nation’s democracy is now in the hands of one man, Farage and his band of outsiders

    You joined the conservative party because you believed in something. Well that something doesn’t exist any more and many Tory MPs (excluding our host) are complicit in its destruction

    1. Dominic
      May 2, 2019

      ‘establishment attack’

    2. Chris
      May 2, 2019

      Well said, Dominic.

  44. The Prangwizard
    May 2, 2019

    Just been to the polling station. Only had a choice of Tory Labour LibDem and Green so I spoiled my ballot – none of these Brexit Betrayed.

    1. Wonky Moral Compass
      May 2, 2019

      Me too. #noneoftheabove

    2. Oggy
      May 2, 2019

      As did I.
      ‘No suitable candidate so none of the above’.

  45. Annette
    May 2, 2019

    The thing is, John, that if what Williamson says is correct – that it wasn’t him or his department, it means that he was happy to let this go through under the radar. Absolutely frightening what this ‘foreign power’ Govt is willing to do.

    We’re watching the corruption & debasement of our Constitution in disbelief, & have done for 3 years yet no ‘threat’ has ever been followed through by the ‘true’ conservatives. It does seem that when people talk about leaving the EU, they must be ‘talking in the abstract’.
    The few good people left in your party must see, by now, that like the EU it is so corrupt & untrustworthy that it is simply not salvageable and is beyond ‘reform from within’. The people will not watch forever as soon we will have nothing to lose.

  46. margaret howard
    May 2, 2019

    You couldn’t make it up. Our own Defence Secretary sacked for leaking sensitive national security information!

    Imagine the gleeful Schadenfreude on this blog if that had happened in any other EU member country. Banana republic would have been one of the more polite comments.

    1. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Like you’ve never been one to plunge the knife to make your own pro-EU case look good!

      You have achieved one thing, thanks to your drivel, no-one in this household or friends thereof will be voting for your party, they’ve all seen through you!

      Sincerity is clearly not the Green Party’s strong point.

    2. Edward2
      May 2, 2019

      But did he?
      Is there any proof?

    3. Caterpillar
      May 2, 2019

      Margaret Howard,

      It would seem that he he has either been set up, or is a hero in being prepared to give up career and potential liberty to protect the country’s security.

  47. Beecee
    May 2, 2019

    If we are to believe that our PM ignored the advice from allies and IT experts regarding HUAWEI and instead preferred ‘assurances’ that all would be safe and well, then again her ability to make informed decisions is open to question.

    If however she was told that the UK could not afford to implement 5G, then the greasy fingers of a certain Mr Hammond must be all over it.

    She is like a ventriloquists dummy – nothing upstairs.

  48. bigneil
    May 2, 2019

    The longest running farce in history carries on.

  49. ukretired123
    May 2, 2019

    May is shoring up her human shield while she can and use it to tough it out just like recent politicians on around the world have done. This is like Custer’s Last Stand aka Battle of the Little Bighorn where surrounded by Indians they were outnumbered and were sadly annihilated.
    This is the rump of Remainer Conservatives and they are saying change the leader but her way remains. They are not going to make it easy and hope to finish off Brexit.
    However every day that passes without leaving just tilts the balance back to the people who no doubt will oblige them with increased scepticism.
    Seeing the female cabinet enjoying champers at the expense of a Russian donor this week shows just how detached they are from reality.

  50. The Quiet Man
    May 2, 2019

    May does not care about the local Tory councilors, she does not care about destroying her own party. All she cares about is keeping the UK tied to the EU under a worse deal then we have now.

  51. Newmania
    May 2, 2019

    Your Trot chum Corbyn has ensured that we have no remain Party to vote for at a general election which is rather more serious.
    The latest Poll I can see has remain 14% ahead. You surely cannot claim that the 2016 referendum is mandate for leaving with nothing( endless seas of quotes including from John Redwood show this to be a laughable suggestion)
    People say a referendum would be divisive , do you really think this will ever be forgiven ?

    1. Ginty
      May 2, 2019

      A clue is in the present standing of the Tory party.

      The Tory Party is tanking in the polls and in funding and on the doorstep because it has a leftist/Remain Prime Minister.

      A pro Leave Conservative government would have left Corbyn in the dust.

      Because of liberal imposters in the Tory party like YOU, Newmania, Corbyn is going to be our next PM.

      And when will you finally wake up to the economics of Corbyn/Remain or Corbyn/Brino ? Because that is what either of those choices, Remain (second referendum) or Brino deliver and none of you reckon on the Corbyn Cliff Edge but bang on about the Leave Cliff Edge incessantly.

    2. Edward2
      May 2, 2019

      Other polls show alternative results.

    3. Oggy
      May 2, 2019

      It would be as meaningless as the last one.

    4. Mitchel
      May 3, 2019

      Corbyn can’t be a “Trot” if he believes in socialism in one country-Trotsky disparaged the very idea as a post-rationalisation by Stalin requiring intellectual gymnastics.

      So a Stalinist possibly;hope that cheers you up!

  52. javelin
    May 2, 2019

    John, please stop calling it an Agreement. It’s a Treaty.

    1. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Merkel’s grubby instruction. May has to keep going over to see her boss with updates and to be told what to do next.

  53. NickW
    May 2, 2019

    It was my understanding that Cabinet Government has ceased, and that having ascertained the opinion of Cabinet, May then ignores it completely and actions her own opinion.

    Why the Cabinet puts up with it is a mystery; one would have thought that such a degree of spinelessness would leave people as a pool of protoplasm on the floor.

    1. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Could this be the answer to the question why Cabinet Ministers put up with the way May treats them?

      On 2nd June 2015 the Daily Mail reported that ministerial pay was to increase at the same time as MP’s basic pay was increased to £74,000. The Prime Minister’s total salary would, therefore, increase from £142,500 to £149,440. The total salary for Cabinet ministers would increase from £134,565 to £141,505

      The difference between an MPs salary (£74,000 p.a.) and a Minister’s salary (£141, 440 p.a.) would, I suggest, make many politicians reluctant to say anything that would rock the boat. Thus, remuneration comes first, and principles a poor second.

  54. Christine
    May 2, 2019

    May has dropped any pretence of delivering a real Brexit. She now just wants to share the blame with Labour and if Corbyn goes along with this then more fool him. Our only hope now is The Brexit Party. With a landslide win in the European elections followed by a win in the by election this will give them the platform to fight the next GE. Hopefully some of the ERG will defect to the party. If one good thing to come out of Mays lies and deception is a sea change in British politics then it will have been worth the pain of the last three years.

  55. David Maples
    May 2, 2019

    If all the potential leaders of the Conservatives had the best interests of the party at heart, they would get together and decide on one candidate to succeed the Mugabe like May, so that the succession might take place with immediate effect. It has to be a leaver, so whinings and complaints from remainers can be disregarded; if they don’t like it, there’s always Jeremy ‘Lenyn’s’ proletarian vanguard, or the ‘Iliberal Shamocrats’!

  56. Dennis Zoff
    May 2, 2019

    @PvL

    ref your comment to me…

    “Maybe best that I refer you to your own H.o.C. library :
    in http://www.parliament.uk:
    “Brexit: the financial settlement”
    Published Thursday, March 14, 2019″

    Thank you for pointing out this site to me. It is probably the most visited document section within the HoC library at the moment; in particular if one is in need of a chuckle!….and tells me a lot about your sources of information? Clearly, you do not work in a legal department, or indeed control a large international Corporation, where legal commitments are set in stone.

    Perhaps you misunderstood me. I was not looking for a political agreement made between two parties. I was looking for the tangible requirement that the UK must legally follow, in particular with regards to your 700? …..not a made up list of could/s, should/s, maybe/s or obscure estimates?

    I am in the business of supporting legal contractual obligations, from both sides, not meaningless non-legal-contractual discussions….perhaps designed to hoodwink the masses?

    When you have hard evidence please let me know, else I will assume you are simply regurgitating Remainer codswallop in lieu of factual data points?

    In my early Director career, I had an introduction to a very famous Chairman of a well-known public company. Boardroom: I will spare you the details, but it finished with…”good god man, do your homework and bring me the evidence”…it was a hard lesson learned!

    1. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      Great post!

      1. Mark B
        May 3, 2019

        +1

        🙂

    2. Edward2
      May 2, 2019

      Totally agree.
      I’ve been involved in business for decades like you Dennis.
      Can you imagine trying to get a £39,000 payment passed by the finance director using that document let alone £39 billion.

      1. Dennis Zoff
        May 2, 2019

        Edward2

        Absolutely agree with you…a good Corporate Finacial Director, worth his salt, would rip you a new orifice if your business could not stand up to in-depth scrutiny!

        The only way to escape their scrutiny and gain their’s and the Board’s confidence is to “Prepare, Prepare and Prepare, or “the three Ps” as my old Chairman use to say. I, in turn, have passed these three Ps down to my International management teams over the years.. and no doubt most are probably very pleased to see me get back on the plane (ring any bells, John)

        When one has sat on the board of global multi-billion enterprises and had the responsibility to deliver results to hardnosed international investors (US ones in particular)….one is inclined to present thoroughly detailed business evidence, aka transparent results with clarity and due diligence. It is the minimum expected from Investors and Customers alike.

        T. May could learn a lot from the real business world, or the experience from our kind host?

        There is nothing more contemptible than an individual/s trying to nefariously hoodwink the people.

  57. Independence Day
    May 2, 2019

    Unfortunately, the WA she is sticking with does neither.
    Her insistence on pursuing the seriously flawed WA raises questions as to just what she has agreed with Brussels that she is not telling us.

  58. rose
    May 2, 2019

    I agree with your summing up 100%. I would add that we now have a Defence Secretary who has shown herself to be a PC pushover, unable to stand up to Hammond on Brexit, and therefore presumably unable to stand up to him on Defence. It takes a bit more than being a reservist and a woman, despite what the MSM are saying, and it takes a bit more than being popular.

  59. Ginty
    May 2, 2019

    I just want your party destroyed. It’s a danger to me. It follows every leftist dogma, from extreme environmentalism to full-on transgenderism and thought policing.

    The Tories are so broke they’ve had to take 3 million quid from Russian oligarchs.

    I have polling card and pick-up stick in hand. I shall pick up the litter left by the sixteen-year-olds who assume to tell me about environmentalism and I relish the chance to vote any way that gets the Tories out.

    General election PLEASE.

    I voted Conservative at the last general election and for most of my life, btw.

    Just get the Tories out. Corbyn can’t possibly be worse.

    Your party an impediment in the fight against the liberalist tyranny in this country and it is becoming clearer to everyone that the first step is to get rid of the Tories.

    1. Big Les
      May 2, 2019

      All Corbyn wants is the keys to number 10. Once inside, he will renege on each and every ‘promise’ he’s ever made in regard to Brexit.

    2. Tad Davison
      May 2, 2019

      I feel that way too, but hopefully, we will soon have a party to vote for in a General Election – and it isn’t Labour, they are still awash with Blairites. And it certainly isn’t the Lib Dems or the Green Party, they are so wedded to the ‘they are so fantastic and can do no wrong EU’, they have lost sight of what they should stand for. That rather narrows down the field.

  60. Atlas
    May 2, 2019

    Rory Stewart said a few weeks ago on the ‘Politics Live’ TV programme that the aim of the withdrawal agreement was to have us leave in such a way that we could be re-integrated into the EU a few years later with minimal effort. That says it all to me about the present Cabinet.

  61. David in Kent
    May 2, 2019

    What a rude letter she wrote when she fired him, effectively accusing him of lying. She has a record of stretching the truth and it’s now his word against hers.

  62. BillM
    May 2, 2019

    Penny Mordant is the new Defence Minister and she voted to Leave the EU. She was International development Secretary, a dead-end job given that Brexit is being so diluted now. Rory Steward is filling that vacant position.

  63. Tony Sharp
    May 2, 2019

    Sir John,
    The time for grumbling is OVER. May will puick off all the RemaINers in the Cabinet (including Gove) in order to form an informal Coalition with Corbyn.

    Get the Leavers in the 1922 to tell the Payrollers who support May :
    “We are forming a Reformed Conservative Party with the Local Associations who have called on May to resign. If she does not do so and you do not demand it then we are splitting in the Commons and will not support Confidence and Supply. If that causes a General Election then so be it and you can take your chances with no practical support in yur Constituencies, we are standing on democratic principles”.
    AND BE DONE WITH IT.

  64. Big Les
    May 2, 2019

    I am wary of TM replacing a leaver (Williamson) with another leaver (Mordaunt). Something else afoot there?

  65. Barbara Brown
    May 2, 2019

    I am no longer surprised by the duplicity exhibited by this government. Everything has been one big lie and now she cohabits with Corbyn , ye gods , how much lower can this woman go. Our first chance to show our rage would have been in the EU elections and now she is in bed with Corbyn they will do a deal ,the EU elections will be cancelled and we will be shackled forever in that dreadful institution.Our memories will be long though. I have about finished with the Con party which I have supported all my adult life , I stayed on just in the hope to have a vote for a new leader but now that the 1922 have bottled out, I guess that wont happen. Toxic Tess will be here until her masters have finished with her but the grass roots members will be long gone. Thank you John Redwood for your efforts..

  66. Michael Dixon
    May 2, 2019

    May and all of the politicians frustrating the Brexit process must have warped or non existent consciences.

  67. BR
    May 2, 2019

    What we are now seeing is that the rules of politics are broken – in the sense that they worked in a bygone age when people behaved honourably (they were forced to do so by society, since other people would ostracise anyone who didn’t play by the rules).

    Nowadays, we have people in public life who simply ignore the norms and/or ‘spin’ the reporting such that they can do whatever they like.

    This means that we need rules fit for the 21st century, which clearly remove people when certain contingent events occur.

    For example, why did Ms Onasanya’s vote count in the no-deal debate when she has been removed from office by petition and I understand that she was breaking the terms of her bail/parole to be at the vote?
    How can the Speaker act as he has? How can a PM stay in post when she has lost the confidence of her party, the country and now even her own MPs?

    The more difficult question is… how to achieve a rule change when MPs routinely vote against rules that affect their ability to do whatever they wish.

  68. Jane
    May 2, 2019

    I regret that I disagree with your comment. It is wrong in my opinion to compare Cabinet Leaks with those from a Security meeting regardless of the content of that leak. It is a criminal offence and each person attending has signed the Official Secrets Act. Further, I personally do not see appointees to Cabinet in terms of whether they are Brexiteers or Remainers. I see Rory Stewart as being a great communicator, successful in every post he has held and a very nice man. He is most able and suitable for a Cabinet post and it was right he was appointed.

    You are obviously not concerned in having the brightest and the best running the country? Very sad to see every move in terms of one issue.

    1. ChrisS
      May 3, 2019

      In the Cabinet for a just day and he’s already on maneuvers to take over from May !
      From the BBC website :

      “New International Development Secretary Rory Stewart has said he intends to stand for the Conservative leadership after Theresa May steps down.

      He told the BBC’s Political Thinking With Nick Robinson podcast he could “help bring the country together”.

      Mr Stewart also said he wanted to move “beyond my brief”, laying out his opinions on “other issues”.

      Another hat in the ring : Oh Dear !!!

  69. agricola
    May 2, 2019

    So the PM considers the leak from the NSC is now closed with the sacking of The Defence Secretary. It is not closed. The PM should be dragged into open court and made to explain in forensic detail the evidence for the sacking. The Cabinet Secretary should follow her in court. Let the two of them produce the evidence of a breach of the OSA. If she lies in court that is purjury and should shift her from office and put her where congenital liars should be. I would be disappointed but not surprised to find that the info on G5 had been deniably planted to get rid of the defence secretary.

  70. Ed Mahony
    May 2, 2019

    I want a Tory Leader inspired by the best values of Queen Elizabeth I, Edmund Burke, Sir Winston Churchill, Konrad Adenauer and – above all – Vizier Joseph of Egypt.

    I, for one, would passionately rally behind such a leader.

    1. Ed Mahony
      May 2, 2019

      ‘best values of’

      – and vision.

    2. Ed Mahony
      May 2, 2019

      and good Louis IX of France (a canonised saint in the Church of England)

  71. BR
    May 2, 2019

    Stewart originally came across as one of the few MPs in command of their brief. His stance on Brexit and his piece on climate change yesterday in ConHome showed that he hasn’t a clue.

    For example, he talked about vast amounts of ice melting (any schoolkid has been taught Archimedes’ Principle – a floating body displaces its weight; a submerged body displaces its volume). So floating ice such as Arctic ice will have no effect on sea level since it is floating (frozen water weighs the same as liquid water).

    We have only two major areas of ice on rock in the Antarctic and Greenland ice cap – and the Antarctic cap has been increasing in size since measurements began in earnest in 2013.

    Stewart puts forward the idea that either a 2nd ref or no-Brexit would be disastrous outcomes. For whom/what? It seems that he means for the Conservative Party, but that would mean he puts party before country and that is not what you are supposed to do.

    Locking the UK into a penal treaty to save the Conservative Party appears to be his position and that needs to be challenged properly in the HoC.

    Drain the swamp.

  72. Ian
    May 2, 2019

    Seems everyone is on song today.
    Well Sir John, There is a lot of us here asking that question today, the theme is the total betrayal of not least those real Tories , a few I know but you are one of them.

    What is the worst thing is the daily diet of Treachery And outright lies from your PM.

    We have left her , we are moving on.
    Your electorate will probably still support you as I am sure you have looked after them well.

    But what about the people outside your electorate that are at loss, that such a leader still gets support from you and the other Leavers.

    We can only conclude that your party is all that is important to you, The once Great Britain and its people are just not important.

    We see every November the so called great and good at the cenotaph, what sticks in my throat is the former PMs .
    Since Thatcher there has been little but rubbish.

    The likes of Harold Macmillan one or two Churchill .

    Macmillan was horrified at the thought we might go and join that block, after two World wars.

    Churchill said to his Secretary of State in 1942, Hitler will want to turn the Continent into a United States of Europe.

    Today you are seen to support the very worst , the most treacherous and plain disgraceful.

    Opening the the national security to the Chinese, with even Bt getting rid of them ten years ago, Canada and the US also more recently.

    Yet you still stand by her and The Party.

    This is at odds with what you say in the House, you are a true blue with the other Leavers.

    Is there nothing at all that would make you see what this PM is doing to us all

  73. Richard Brown
    May 2, 2019

    There is an ulterior motive to this.
    There have been rumours of another Cabinset Monster having a downer (possibly a vendetta) against Mr Williamson.
    Also, why doesn’t Mrs May want the police involved? Is it because the will find something she or her Civil Serviles don’t want found?
    As a life-long Conservative supporter, I regret to say that the country needs the party shaking up with a proper good kicking in the local elections today. That is preferable to letting Mr Corbyn into Number 10; a strong possibility at present.

  74. Helen Smith
    May 2, 2019

    It is clear from the tone of your recent posts that you cannot abide May, join the club.

    I wonder if you are thinking of defecting to the Brexit party?

  75. Steve
    May 2, 2019

    It stinks, absolutely stinks !

    To my mind the question should be why was a Chinese company invited in the first place ?security risk or what !

  76. Elli Ron
    May 2, 2019

    Whoever leaked the Huawei story was a British patriot.

    Regarding ‘strengthening the Remain forces in parliament’ – true but not important Calamity Theresa is running the whole disastrous WA on her own and without any input from Leave ministers.
    Today will probably be an electoral disaster for us in the elections; the EU elections will probably see Farage on 3-4 times our vote.
    I agree with your policy, but most of the Conservative parliamentary is refusing to remove Calamity and that will prove to be another disaster in the coming GE.

  77. Peter Lavington
    May 2, 2019

    Sir John – please take a stand now. The Conservative party is dead. They may as well join the Liberals. It would be momentous if you and fellow Brexit believers left the party and joined Farage. Do it…..

  78. David Whitaker
    May 2, 2019

    She has to go. This is almost the end of democracy and the Tory party. Why are sensible people standing by when something so obviously must be done now to remove her?

  79. mancunius
    May 2, 2019

    This whole ghastly process of national humiliation reminds me inescapably of the image of Gulliver being tied down by the Lilliputians – Swift’s metaphor for small-mindedness.

  80. Steve
    May 2, 2019

    Just went to the Polling Station, wow what a choice. Crap, crap or crap…….defaced the paper instead.

  81. Simon Coleman
    May 2, 2019

    Complete nonsense from start to finish. Ms Mordaunt, a Brexiteer, has just been promoted.

  82. ChrissyG
    May 2, 2019

    Sir John, through no fault of your own you’re now an MP in a corrupt government. You deserve better.

    1. Fred H
      May 3, 2019

      Chrissy….wait a minute there is some difference between being in the Government (Cabinet and minor-Ministerial roles) and being a normally supporting backbencher. The pathetic whip, way too often used indictates an unstatisfactory government position only done by enforcing. Corrupt of course would require some evidence. Our respected MP for Wokingham is hardly guilty of sheep -like following of the party line. I accept that many of us wish he would join with like-minded souls and make some sort of display or severance from this shambolic Government and Cabinet.

  83. Chris
    May 2, 2019

    Matthew Goodwin, one of the few political experts who early on took an interest in the rise of UKIP (and now also the Brexit Party) and the rise of distrust of politicians has written an interesting article in New Statesman America which covers these issues. There is little to provide hope for the Conservatives here.

    It seems the distrust has been developing over a long time and is very deep seated. With May lying routinely and mounting covert operations against her Ministers, fuel is daily being added to the fire. I still feel that Tory MPs do not “get it”, and it is particularly concerning that even the “few good men” who have been fighting to uphold democracy and honour Brexit cannot bring themselves to take the radical action which is needed to start the very long road to recovery of trust. May has to go, Brexit has to be honoured, and democracy upheld.

    If the Tories refuse to do it, Farage and his team will make a superhuman effort to fight for Brexit, and also for a sound political system which actually represents the people. They will have huge support.

    One of the worrying things about Britain is that our diffuse support for the political system was on the wane long before the Brexit vote”.
    By Matthew Goodwin

  84. Norman
    May 2, 2019

    I do wonder how much Mrs May is being covertly urged on by certain unseen grandees (experienced politicians of the past) who passionately believe the EU concept to be utterly sacrosanct.
    I also wonder if all this destructive hatred is therefore misplaced, and will ensure the very outcome so vehemently eschewed.
    That’s why, JR, I believe your approach to stick to your guns and stand your ground is both honourable and correct. Who knows what events lie ahead?

  85. mancunius
    May 3, 2019

    I’m imagining the following snippet of dialogue taking place two days ago:

    TM: OK, let’s say you claim you have ‘found out’ it was Gavin, and he’s forced to resign, what if the police then get interested in the breach of the OSA? What if some Labour MPs write to them demanding a police investigation. If the Met look into it, won’t all the… erm… circumstances come out ? They might even find out who really did the leaking!
    MS: Ah, but that’s the beauty of this situation, PM. As it happened in the NSC, there is a legal loophole, viz and to wit: the only persons who can now request a police investigation, are yourself and myself. And (just entre nous), I shall certainly not be asking the police to take an interest. You can simply state you regard the matter as ‘now closed’ – you can even make it sound magnanimous, as if you could take it further, but won’t, out sheer kindness. Result: awkward squad in cabinet minus one, with a plus one nice polite remainer more in case the WTO crowd start demanding a cabinet vote again: this bumptious, irksome individual will be firmly got rid of and told to go and play with his spider, and there can be no possible further consequences to you or to No. 10.

  86. Nicholas Murphy
    May 5, 2019

    Stewart is doing a good job of making Morgan look reasonable over at ConHome.

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