I do not support Mr Shapps in his view that we need a Conservative leadership election.
I note that the other 29 MPs he has hinted are with him have not spoken out or let their names be known. They are either surprisingly reticent rebels, or they do not exist.
The media say he needs 48 MPs to sign a letter for a leadership election. They need to add they would also need to find 160 Conservative MPs to vote for a leadership election, as a motion of confidence follows the letters. This is not going to happen.
October 6, 2017
Can someone please do something about Mrs May’s outfits? She hardly looked PM material in that awful jacket she was wearing on the 6 O’clock news tonight. She wears her dresses too short and her jackets don’t fit properly either. She just isn’t cutting the mustard in more ways than one at the moment. The Tory party is walking a thin line keeping her on. If they chose the right candidate there is still time for a successful election. We need a true Conservative and someone with some radical ideas and not just a cut and paste of Labour’s policies.
October 7, 2017
Not to mention her Marxist supporting wrist bracelet. Cameron for all his faults spoke well and was clubbable…May just looks awkward and stilted not PM material.
October 7, 2017
The bracelet would have looked lovely with her diamante encrusted Che Guevara tee shirt though!
Another Vogue front cover?!
October 7, 2017
It’s none of my business what the lady wears
October 6, 2017
We need a PM, cabinet, Govt and Parliament that gets on and implements the vote.
October 7, 2017
Changing leader again is not an option. However damaged Mrs May is she must lead or call an election, the public (apart from Labour activists) do not want another election but will not tolerate another change in leadership without voter input. It is not for Conservative MPs to choose our leader.
Mrs May should have a reshuffle and choose supportive, able colleagues. Then the new government can lead us like conservatives and deliver us out of the EU and into our prosperous future
October 7, 2017
She, the cabinet, govt and parliament all need to change. I agree she does not need to be changed, she can change herself. They all need to change themselves and get on and follow through with the referendum result.
October 8, 2017
Yes, heads down and deliver.
October 6, 2017
Well May is clearly not going to fight the next election (as she would be an electoral disaster to rival even the dire John Major). Who wants a daft, dithering & robotic socialist to lead the supposedly economically sensible party?
Furthermore she is clearly another ex(?) remainer socialist in the Heath, Major, Cameron mode. A great shame that the foolish Gove knived Boris (and that Boris did not choose to continue anyway – he would have won.
Surely the sooner she is put out of her misery the sooner the party can attempt to rebuild. Delaying and dithering over the deed really will not help. She is dead in the water.
October 7, 2017
You are so wrong. Theresa May is none of those things with which you label her. In my opinion she very capable, extremely hardworking and it was demonstrated that many people think so as well and voted her in – even in a badly directed GE – with the biggest majority of votes since 1983. Boris needs first to attend a course in diplomacy – or at the very lest read the book by Dale Carnegie called “How to Make Friends and Influence People” instead of ruffling feathers of people he is supposed to be acting towards diplomatically. Boris is fine when he is sticking to the script – as in his conference speech – but when he decides to ad lib he gets into trouble. Let him make his mark as a really good Foreign Secretary (and with Brexit, there is plenty of room to develop the role) then maybe at a future date, when it is appropriate, he can stand in line with all the other hopeful Conservative candidates (he’s by far not the only one), for election as PM. Until then, Theresa May is PM and that is where she will stay at least for the next 5 years. Give her your support, and she will grow more confident. Continual criticism (with scant thanks for things done well) is hardly making her life any easier. She’s had one of the worst years that a PM could have with terrorist attacks, badly-planned GE, a towering inferno, RED-Labour party and UK-CP Union strikes, riots, “days of rage” marches, Hurricanes in BVI overseas territories as well as trying to keep the country on an even keel while the UK negotiates Brexit. Then to crown it all, what should have been a conference finishing on a high note with her speech (and yes, there was good content in that speech) which in true BBC style was not reported and they focused on the split in the party, the puerile P45 incident and her most unfortunate cough. How would you have coped? I admire her true grit and spirit and calmness dealing with what was a diabolical breach of security! So, you know where I stand and let all the backstabbing twerps like Grant Shapps and Ed Vaisey watch out. They will get their marching orders from their constituents at the next elections, whether local or general, and with very good reason – lack of loyalty to a Conservative PM, lack of integrity (while the PM’s speech was in progress, Shapps was canvassing for people to oust her) and being a traitor to the people as well as to the PM.
October 8, 2017
Boris won socialist London twice and helped win Brexit. He therefore has a lot of very powerful enemies who will not rest until he is destroyed. The words he is condemned for (with the exception of the Erdogan limerick which was part of a campaign to prevent the Germans from trying someone) have always been taken out of context, twisted, distorted, and then had added nastiness projected on to them. If these people had a real case against him they wouldn’t need to do that. They could engage with his actual arguments. But they don’t.
He is attracting extra bile at the moment because he is the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke, trying to save Brexit, while the real culprits, Hammond, Mrs Rudd, and Heywood, are trying to overwhelm it. They are the ones who should be sacked, except a Cabinet Secretary probably can’t be.
Boris is obviously not trying to engineer a leadership contest – quite the reverse – but it suits his enemies, including those inside Downing Street, to make out he is. He just wants a successful Brexit, and not for the low motives the media make out but because he is patriotic, unlike them. He is getting the Prince Philip treatment at the moment. Whatever he says is twisted and whizzed round the world to cause the country maximum harm. The people doing that need to learn about diplomacy.
October 6, 2017
Dear John–That’s wonderful, but May is of proven bad judgement and I see no reason to trust the forthcoming important decisions to her–In addition she is completely uninspiring and many of those rushing to support her are doing so to support their own positions rather than because of any faith in her. I hope Gove is satisfied.
October 6, 2017
It is about the last thing we need, and sends out all the wrong messages to the opposition, the media, the electorate , and the EU at a very crucial time.
October 7, 2017
Agricola
By changing the leader of the party it could send out the right message to the EU providing that person was a true believer in Brexit and got on with delivering it. We need someone with some charisma and guts who will tell the EU what is what and not dance to their tune.
October 6, 2017
Mr Shapps shot his bolt far too early, he should have got his numbers right before going public, although from what he said on radio today it seems to be the Whips who have outed him.
It seems that the Tories are only worried about it because they don’t have any talent to do the job (Rudd Hammond etc. inspire no confidence) and they have never been known for their loyalty to their leader and would knife Mrs. May like a shot if they thought it would advantage them. Boris is no longer a viable leader, although he must stay in position to hold Mrs. May’s feet to the fire re Brexit. If Hammond succeeds in getting him out, Brexit will be dead. Mrs. May will also be a useful fall guy if (when) Brexit goes wrong and she can conveniently be blamed for any sell out to the EU. She will be gone as soon as the negotiations are completed, long before any General Election. My Guess is late summer 2018.
October 7, 2017
Didn’t you just love Rudd “encouraging” her cabinet colleagues to stand up during May’s speech.Just like the Praetorian Tigellinus encouraging applause whilst the Emperor Nero inflicted his dire lyre-strumming on the court of Imperial Rome!
October 7, 2017
Perhaps Rudd should have something to do with security in the UK. The P45 should have had her name on it if, she is a British subject.
October 6, 2017
The unhindered ‘comedian’ (given endless airtime for the public to view his entire sketch from every angle – filmed better than In the Thick of It), the ‘spontaneously’ falling letters, the leak to the press about the disatisfaction in Conservative ranks with Mrs May.
No wonder she’s feeling under the weather.
October 6, 2017
It is a huge mistake to keep Mrs May as PM. She is clearly not up to the job being the worst PM since Ted Heath and proving totally and utterly incompetent as a negotiator with the EU. A Remainer like her was never going to be a good choice for the major task at hand and you are making a heinous error of judgement unless you do everything possible in your power to see she is immediately replaced by someone who actually knows what Brexit looks like.
October 10, 2017
Was Ted Heath even worst the John Major? Difficult to decide but Major did have the excuse of being very, very dim I suppose.
October 6, 2017
I admire John’s loyalty and support for Theresa ; the last thing that any sensible Conservative supporter wants are its MPs squabbling with each other . The splits in the Labour Party are evidence enough that there is a divided loyalty and we certainly don’t want the same impression with the Conservatives .
Qualities of leadership do not come in abundance and if the natural ability is not there it is unlikely that it can be acquired . Theresa is a highly intelligent woman who has devoted her life to Conservative values ; as Home Secretary she often stuck her chin out and certainly did not shirk her responsibilities , she lasted a long time in this difficult task . She has always shown a keen regard for community values and it was not surprising that she had the spirit to become Prime Minister . If she had inherited her present role with a highly convinced and supportive Cabinet , she probably would not have experienced the challenge that has now emerged ; this has not been the case and the problem has now boiled over and been exposed . No matter how things are now covered up it will not change the reality of an election that will have to be fought in a few years time ; I have very strong doubts that she will be able to reach this point and win .
October 7, 2017
“Theresa is a highly intelligent woman who has devoted her life to Conservative values.” Sure! Values like Corbyn has (prices and income controls, pissing tax payers money down the drain and incubating “discrimination” grievances all over the place). This and trying to trick voters in to a remain vote by blatantly lying to them that they had control of UK through Schengen! “Values” you must be joking!
Theresa does not even seem to know what a “Conservative value” is – she is a socialist without a Conservative bone in her body. Why did she ever join the Tories? Pleasanter, posher and saver seats than Labour or the Libdims have – I can only assume. Or perhaps she watched the dire socialist Heath and leaned all her lefty agenda off him! Did she not notice what a disaster Heath and Major were?
October 7, 2017
A typical chauvanist observation . There is no depth in your comments that show a proper understanding of a person’s role in the senior ranks of politics . Stick to your off-shore geography and leave the intimacy of what goes on here to those of us who live amongst real life .
October 7, 2017
Bert, you seem to be in a minority praising and supporting Mrs May whereas L/L expresses what the majority think on this blog.
October 7, 2017
fedupsoutherner , If you read my comments properly you will note that while I have made adequate and positive remarks about Theresa , I have also remarked on the lack of support she has received from her Cabinet members and the probability that she will not be the leader when the next election is due . The point that John has made ( supported by the MAJORITY of the Conservative MPs ) is the wish that Theresa continues in office . L/L has made – as he often does , disparaging remarks that are a let down to the decency and quality of other responders ; his use of bad language is an indication of a lack of respect for this blog .
October 8, 2017
Problem is: what is the exact distribution of age, revenues, “intelligence”, political awareness, newspaper and/or book references, … of the contributors on this blog?
FUS, have you ever heard of the concept of an “echo chamber”?
October 7, 2017
The PM did chose her cabinet, she put delayers and remainers in the positions the are in, perhaps internally legitimizing the remain bias of the Conservative MPs before the referendum. She did have the opportunity to walk not just talk the Brexit is Brexit mantra, she urgently needs to walk it like she talked it.
October 7, 2017
Mr Redwood would be loyal to any leader, however dire. he is an ultra party loyalist. I don’t place any store by it as an indication of qulaity or competence.
October 6, 2017
I well remember the dog days of the Major administration (I won’t call it a Government) when in 1995 some bold chap stood against a Prime Minister who was clearly out of his depth. He lost, and the country was subjected to a decade and more of tyranny under the Blair regime. The prospect of another incompetent boob clinging to office in the face of demands she resign is lamentable and the consequences potentially even worse, given that Corbyn would be a greater disaster than Blair was.
If she is not to go now, then when?
October 7, 2017
No change no chance as we saw with the dire (still no apology for the ERM) John Major.
October 7, 2017
Some time after we have left the EU, hopefully on March 29th 2019.
October 7, 2017
By then, surrounded by Remain ministers and civil servants and representing them, she is likely to have given in to Barnier’s demands completely. At the election, they will reverse the referendum. If we had an intelligent Leaver, able to sort out the Civil Service like Owen Paterson, then we might actually leave. But he is not a Reamainer, so this will not suit the majority of Tory MPs. Head Office rules and the constituency members are too dozy to do anything about it.
October 9, 2017
Theresa May is only 61, women in future can’t get their State retirement until they’re 67, we have age discrimination in place in this Country and if she shows she is capable and wishes to carry on there is no reason she can’t run the Country for two terms, no one batted an eyelid when Ken Clarke who is now 77 ran again and also ran as a candidate against David Cameron.
Now Theresa needs to show she can do this job she’s always wanted and put on her armour, start behaving more stateswoman like and get a deputy who compliments her strengths and supports her weaknesses.
October 10, 2017
Well if, at 61, you still do not have a clue about how the world goes round then what can be done for the poor dope?
October 11, 2017
Theresa May needs to show she knows what she is doing. I believe she needs to be less trusting of people she has been taking advice from be they civil servants or other ministers, she should start by looking at the people who booked the conference organisers, bought her the bracelet or didn’t advise her it wasn’t advisable to wear it. It must be terrible to realise no-one has your back. I like Damien Green as a person, he is too much like Mrs May, she needs her opposite personality type at her side close, someone that’s been through the media wringer a few times and knows how to answer questions and stay on top of the aggressive interview techniques deployed endlessly now. A Norman Tebbit/Frank Field/Daniel Hannan/Mogg/Gisela Stuart battler.
October 6, 2017
You can try to rally the party faithful if you choose. Everybody knows May is a lame duck prime minister.
She was left there, after her disastrous election, as a sponge to soak up all the inevitable grief that was coming to the Conservative party in the near future. Potential leaders did not want all that sticking to them.
However, she went from bad to worse. She is determined to screw up Brexit. Time for her to go. EU negotiators hold her in complete contempt. She is a laughing stock.
I cannot think of a worse Prime Minister than her (from any party). She was crafty enough to keep quiet and land the top job (though she was a useless Home Secretary).
Guido Fawkes site has more forthright and widely held views and than those that feature on here after the censor does his work.
Under the spotlight she has now been completely found out.
October 7, 2017
Peter:
You are quite right, Theresa May was an ineffectual Home Secretary, who let in thousands of people under her watch. It is still going on.
We may not be able to do anything about immigration from the EU, but we could do something about those people coming in from other countries, and have been able to do so for several years. However I wont hold my breath with the present Home Secretary. Truth is, they dont want to do anything. They think uncontrolled immigration is a good thing for the country!
October 8, 2017
Actually, something could have been done about the EU people. If unemployed for 3 months they can be sent home but the May and Rudd HO don’t do that. Nor did their predecessors.
October 9, 2017
Well then Rudd needs to show up in her own job instead of telling people what to do like a schoolmarm. “stand up” Mrs Rudd and do your job.
October 6, 2017
It is a pity you do not support the view JR.It is legend the captain goes down with his ship not the whole bless-ed crew.
October 10, 2017
The captain and the deputy please.
October 6, 2017
Is it not the case that T. May’s crucial and yet to be performed role is to take the blame, thereby allowing her successor some prospect of an uncluttered run to the next general election? Accordingly, she cannot be dismissed just yet, although there must be limits to how much political capital her government is going to consume before all is lost no matter who comes next.
October 6, 2017
P.S. Who is Grant Schapps anyway? Is he as mighty a figure as Baroness Warsi?
October 7, 2017
Cameron certainly was good at choosing useless dopes – but clearly May must go very soon, but we must replace her with a real Conservative for a change.
October 6, 2017
Mrs May needs to face up to the fact that the Brussels regime is not negotiating in good faith and the continuous grovelling to them humiliates the whole nation. Stop talking and start planning to get out now.
October 7, 2017
@ forthurst
You echo my thoughts, time to stop the embarrassing pandering time to grow a pair and get on with doing what the electorate voted for.
October 7, 2017
Agreed.
Our Prime Minister is weak, weak, weak…
Weak General Election manifesto – alienated and rejected the Tory heartland voters
Weak speech in Florence – giving away our negotiating hand for nothing
Weak content of Conference speech… was there ANY relevant content?
May, Hammond & Rudd fiddle whilst Brexit burns…
Certainly to have a new leader now could be a mistake, but Mrs May needs a big kick up the backside and get back on message – “Brexit means Brexit”..
October 7, 2017
facts4eu.org has a link to an excellent session of The Heritage Foundation with Owen Paterson who is of the opinion that “if the EU does not show serious intent to negotiate free trade arrangements, on the basis of reciprocal free trade based on mutual recognition of conformity of standards, by Christmas, we should give clear notice on January 1st that we’re leaving and we’re going to work on WTO terms.”
I would go further, I would withdraw all offers in the table, proceed with UK proposals on the Irish border, treat EU citizens fairly but in no way superior to our own and focus on the WTO basis now.
October 7, 2017
David, Good old Paterson. I have always rated him. Why oh why have we got such a bunch of numpties in the cabinet at the moment? They will collectively make sure Brexit fails.
October 7, 2017
She gave them a good chance to agree to an amicable separation, in fact she went so far along with her rather nauseating “But we still love you” line that some began to wonder why we even wanted to separate. The hugging and and patting and kissing should stop, literally, from now on it should be no more than a friendly handshake with the possibility of downgrading that further to a merely civil handshake.
October 6, 2017
The contention is that Mrs May’s EU negotiation will convince the electorate to vote for not just her but the whole of the Conservative Party.Unrealistic.
Tory MPs are out at the next Election. Well deserved defeat.All Corbyn needs to do is pretend he is reformed and generally say nothing. He is wily enough to do just that. Heard from him in the last week? No.
October 6, 2017
Well i’ m glad to hear it, the PM needs all the support that she can muster now especially with these brexit talks ongoing. I hope all the ministers in government feel the same although Boris has been acting a bit strange lately. On another note has anyone else noticed Michael Goves new hair cut he’s starting to look very smart, very presidential, and talking the same old guff, on manoeuvres I’d say?
October 6, 2017
From the Tory Manifesto onwards or in fact backwards, the Party has reversed from weakness to weakness.You cannot win by suddenly switching horses anytime after now. I’m sure Grant Schapps has his own agenda. He is a politician.Nadine Dorries going on TV today condemning him along with Soubry and Morgan was another shot in the foot.
Well the Tories deserve to lose. You had it all.
October 6, 2017
Nevertheless Mrs May is not good for the country, or the party. The complete absence of anyone I could support is scarey.
The elite have become far too far removed from the rest of us.
October 6, 2017
The Cabinet has resolved to keep their Cabinet salaries as long as possible which is the time of the next Election. To do this , each one has to support May.
The only useful thing May has come up with is to remind us of the bad old days of Grammar Schools where your previous best friend passed the 11+ turned in to a snotty little runt who took drugs and got a job down the pit as a Daywageman as that was reserved for Grammar School junkies and the less forward. And a reminder of why Labour legitimately came to power..on the back of Tory mange.
October 7, 2017
The end of grammar schools has seen a return of the domination by Eton boys of politics – working class kids aren’t getting a look in.
October 8, 2017
Eton boys are generally better educated than Grammar School boys. Everyone says they have a privileged education. We would be idiots if we did not prefer our politicians having a privileged education. Mind you it didn’t do Corbyn much good. It’s taught him what to say to the working class but denied him genuine empathy to feel and inwardly know his outlook is totally wrong for example when he sees Venezuelan workers searching through bins looking for discarded food.He has in his case inoperable bourgeois cataracts. His deafness to their cries is however classless and something only he can remedy
October 8, 2017
What do you propose, a quota system for the working class?Why should there be any working class people in politics? I am working class. I don’t see working class politicians doing me any more favours than the others. They are too busy aping the others in manner and taste, hanging on to their own original accents for grim death in case someone accuses them of having read a book or worse, understood it.
October 8, 2017
The party chairman is working class.
October 10, 2017
I am not sure what you mean by working class. If you don’t work you don’t get paid in any type of setting, therefore working class could be said to be superior if it exists. These false categories should not be perpetuated.
October 12, 2017
I mean he was a working miner, a superior thing to be. But it doesn’t necessarily follow from that that he is an effective party chairman, any more than if he were an Eton scholar.
October 6, 2017
John
While I would welcome a change of Conservative leader it seems to me that Shapps is probably engaging in mischief making. Perhaps he has a track record of such activity which you and your colleagues would be better placed to know about than would I.
October 6, 2017
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/06/eu-steps-brexit-talks-labour-fears-theresa-mays-government-will/
This will happen if shapps and the other remoaners don’t fall into line, or could this be the hidden agenda that the top Tories remoaners have up there sleeve, on your heads be it
October 6, 2017
A majority voted to leave, and I see absolutely no evidence of recantation on the part of any of the leave voters I know. Quite the reverse: we are angry at the delays and capitulation.
Theresa May seems to grip onto power until her fingers whiten but she does not use it to get the only thing she truly has a mandate for – Brexit. Appeasing the EU as she has done will merely bake in the sort of mistakes we made on entry. “Swallow the lot, and swallow it now” didn’t work then and won’t work now.
What little resolve Mrs May had has been undermined by the likes of Rudd, Hammond, Soubry, Morgan and a few others, with Heseltine buzzing like a wasp in the background. Plus of course our traitorous Remain civil service. This lot need to be lined up and given the ultimatum: continue with Remain propaganda and destroy democracy in the UK; or support leave. It’s that stark.
October 7, 2017
We get plenty ” Leave voters were conned.” but I don’t feel conned, nor does anyone else I know.
Anyone who felt Brexit was a con didn’t vote for it.
Those who claim it was a con are Remainers who want a second referendum. Well I certainly don’t want one.
October 7, 2017
Nick You are so right. All my friends are sick to death of the fact that the electorate voted to come out and that is what we expect. Why do these politicians think they are above what the people want? They are not there to serve themselves but that is what they are all doing at the moment. They are there to carry out the will of the people and that is not happening. The Tory party may be in danger of destroying the very meaning of the word democracy. Shame on them. What a way to go down in history.
October 7, 2017
Our PM is allowing this to happen, I believe, fedupsoutherner, and apparently has the arrogance to believe that this is acceptable. She is not alone, and of course that is the problem
October 6, 2017
Something else won’t happen – Conservatives winning the next election..Party before country as always.
October 6, 2017
Let us remember that Theresa May is only Prime Minister because David Cameron broke his word and resigned after losing the EU referendum.
She did not seek to replace him, there was no rebellion or plot to remove him and install her in his stead; he ratted on us and so created a vacancy which had to be filled, and in fact from among the available candidates she seemed to be the best choice albeit that she had been a (rather weak) supporter of the losing side in the referendum.
However she has proved to be highly susceptible to bad advice, including the bad advice that she should call an entirely unnecessary snap general election which allegedly came from the President of the EU Commission Jean-Claude Juncker:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jun/10/election-nicky-morgan-theresa-hard-brexit
“The Observer has learned that May took the fateful decision to call the election having been urged to do so by commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.
It is understood that Juncker had advised May to call an early general election as a result of his concerns that the 17-seat majority she had inherited from David Cameron would not be enough during the pinch points of the negotiations, including over the issue of the UK’s divorce bill, estimated to be as much as €100bn.”
I don’t know who or what has motivated Grant Shapps to try to make matters even worse than they already are, whether it is his personal ambition, or he is an agent for somebody else, or he is hoping to cause enough disruption to prevent the UK leaving the EU.
In any case it seems to me that his own position must now be in question; if he is so keen to engineer a fresh election then he could easily arrange one in his own constituency and then we could see what the electors think about his behaviour.
October 7, 2017
We surely cannot retain T May for much longer when she has a broken compass, throws sitting duck elections and is constantly pushing highly damaging, indeed half witted socialist/interventionist/big state/ tax borrow and waste policies. If the people want socialism they will vote for Corbyn rather than May’s socialism light. Her agenda suggest she thinks he is broadly right!
October 7, 2017
While a leadership election right now would be a shambles, after her surprise election that lost a majority and the poor content of her speech, a new leader is rather needed. That said snap response challenges aren’t the way to do it, or a way to make people have faith in that leader who would just look like an opportunist.
As for the speech, where were the policy changes? Where was the support for small businesses? Currently policies have alientated the micro-business group quite thoroughly, and while that may not be much in national financial terms, that’s over 9M voters facing the closure of their firms and being thrown onto benefits. Where, in fact, was anything that we would not have seen from Blair?
October 7, 2017
If you thought you had a viable candidate capable of winning the next election, your view would be different. With pro and ante Brexit MPs resentful of the roles played by potential leaders, so split especially where Boris is concerned and frankly no national leadership potential amongst the Cabinet despite their view of their own ability, you are correct bot only because you have no other choice.
However the sobriquet ‘Maybot’ is spot on and I cannot see her being anything other than a functionary to get Brexit through. Should she start to assert herself by slapping down certain naysayers and start to give the country Boris style hope and that includes facing down the EU with a real no deal threat, my opinion would change and so would the country’s.
If not she will not lead your party into the next election.
October 7, 2017
I get increasingly tired of reading reports that state ‘ some’ MPs (or Ministers) have said certain things, but there are never any names. If they have something to say, they should have the guts to have it known exactly who they were. That way, we could all form our opinions of them. Personally, I want to know who said what, and why.
October 7, 2017
I have to say, Mrs May has been a hugely disappointing PM. However, in my view now would be an ill-judged moment to remove her. If she would get her act together and tell the EU to start taking the (dis)UK serious, or we’ll walk away. She would raise her status and level of respect. At the moment she is seen as a pushover.
October 7, 2017
The country as a whole is getting very annoyed with the Tory party. It is becoming more obvious that your traitorous wing is out to force another election so as to derail Brexit.
Mrs May who seems to have the support of Hammond and Rudd is capitulating to Brussels.
It is obvious we are going to be given associate membership which has been the idea all along.
Same terms no representation.
This will not end good.
October 7, 2017
So long as the politicians come out of it all ok, the politicians will be happy. after all, that is what ( most ) politicians care about, not the people. Politicians don’t live in our world.
October 7, 2017
It is obvious to most that May isn’t up to the job and her heart is not in delivering Brexit.
It is obvious to most that Hammond is conspiring and constructing events to prevent Brexit
To see a staunch democrat and arch Brexit supporter such as you John proffer support for a leader that is both a Remain advocate and could lose us the next election fills me with sadness
I think the Conservative Party has a death wish of some form but then it won’t be Tory MP’s who will have to absorb the cost and consequences of the next Marxist Labour government
October 7, 2017
I disagree; I think that although she was a low-key Remainer before the vote she is one of those who has fully accepted the result, and that her heart genuinely is in delivering Brexit, and that is precisely why those who refuse to accept the result are constantly trying to cause problems for her. As I have repeatedly said we are in the middle of a propaganda war, but very much a one-sided propaganda war.
October 7, 2017
“If as many expect the EU says at the October Council they still do not intend to talk about a future Agreement we should just get on with preparing for exit with No Deal. We should certainly not offer them money, which would be taken as signs of weakness by the UK, encouraging them to dig in harder to get more.”
You really think Mrs May has the guts and energy to do that?
Really?
Perhaps you could share your ideas toward the path of such a process, please? A speech in Folkestone, perhaps, completely different to the one made in Florence?
I can’t see it happening personally. She’ll either cave in or run away like the last leader.
October 7, 2017
One shouldn’t be too surprised that the alleged other 29 haven’t come out, now the Momentum-style hounds have been set on Grant Shapps.
October 7, 2017
I saw Schapps being interviewed on BBC yesterday morning, it seemed a bit .. odd. The first attempt failed with some technical issue which felt odder still.
He said there had been confidential discussions beforehand with No.10 but it was the the whips that had disclosed the activity. I do wonder whether Schapps has been outed before he is able to acquire sufficient supporters, if he ever had the number he claims.
October 7, 2017
Lets look at some of the headlines from the news over the past week
Sterling has worst week in a year amid political worries
Bombardier facing 300 per cent duty for US imports
Germany rejects May’s brexit transition hopes
US seeks stronger regulation of clearing houses
It’s not very encouraging- and now we have grant scapps and others i suppose out on manoeuvres try to destabilise the the govrrnment..it’s not good..not good
October 7, 2017
Here ends the Brussels sermon.
October 8, 2017
… as clearly these things have not happened in your world.
October 9, 2017
Germany is not the EU so they are not in a position to reject anything
October 7, 2017
We are living in an Alice in Wonderland world where Shapps says something plainly obvious that all Tory MPs and members know is true – that May is a useless leader – but they all then rush to condemn him.
October 7, 2017
For some years I have wondered what is the point of the Conservative Party Conference, in particular. Apparently only 100 MPs bothered to turn up and it just highlighted inadequacies, division and indecision. Some have blamed the “cough” on too many fringe speeches, these surely can be made through the year at different locations. The lack of security defies belief and her reaction to the idiot prankster likewise.
Catch 22 applies to her position, her judgment is very poor and mostly wrong but the alternative is basically Corbyn and that is understood by most MPs. If the odds of her leading into the next GE are better than even, a safe bet.
October 7, 2017
One thing is clear we do need a leadership change and a new chancellor I was not in favour of their obtaining their respective positions in the first place. What is in doubt is the timing. You are probably right it is not now but it must come sooner rather than later.
October 7, 2017
‘This is not going to happen.’
Rather a self fulfilling prophecy – unless members find the courage to do the right thing then they will inevitable sail over a cliff. Dr Redwood should ON PRINCIPLE support the ousting of May ..whether it is a practical proposal or not is irrelevant. You are a man of principle aren’t you Dr Redwood ?.
Many Conservative politicians probably want rid of hapless premier Theresa May, and are deterred from ousting her only by two things – fear of the consequences if an election ensues, and the simple lack of a credible successor. Rather like a rabbit caught in the headlamps – what is needed are calm experienced actions to steer the ship rather than a head in the sand stick with nanny response.
Mr Hammond’s own plan to expand “help to buy” is yet another policy which defies market forces (as well as being a gravely faulty policy in itself). There doesn’t seem to be much that is “free market” about Mrs May’s plans to cap energy prices, either.
Those who claim free market credentials ought to be making a case for it. Price capping simply isn’t consistent for a government which claims to be free market.
A Conservative government should be pressing for greater competition in the energy market to lower price..not price rigging!.
When you should be attacking Corbyn you offer us Corbyn light… for this alone May must go and JR should be able to see this!.
October 7, 2017
If Mrs. May is not going to quit – and there is no sign that she is – there is one thing that could be done to mollify people like me.
As has been suggested in the press, she could appoint a minister for ‘No Deal’.
The job would entail getting everything in place for the UK to walk away. It would also require regular public updates on progress on this task.
It would almost certainly require taking a hard line against recalcitrant civil servants, sidelining those who hinder this work, denying bonuses and withholding public honours if necessary.
Brexiteers would then at least know that had everything covered in negotiations and were not reliant solely on the grace and favour of the EU.
October 7, 2017
The real question is how she has overseen a year when JC has gone from on the Run to making Her look a fool. I can only assume its deliberate and they think they will reverse the referendum result. I questioned at the a time the appointment of the person that did more damage to the party with one sentence that was used for years against any leader sat opposite Blair.
October 7, 2017
Good lord JR,
The citizens of this once proud country must be distraught at this continuing kindergarten pantomime! Politicians have hit another low with their perfidious childish behaviour.
Labour do not need to do anything….just be patient and watch the Tories self-combust!
You or Rees-Mogg are the “Churchill” to dithering May’s “Chamberlain” ..time to make a move!
October 7, 2017
Many of us on this board warned that May’s premiership would be a disaster myself included and we aint seen nothing yet. Just wait until inflation picks up, Brexit is de-railed under the weight of shear bungling incompetence and international investors start to conclude that Britain, both economically and politically, is falling apart.
Who will save us – Dr Redwood is in a state of denial, May has a potty PC agenda and the rest of the party are scared witless.
I don’t claim any great insight or understanding but her failings were obvious – pro government intervention, immigration, EU..not the prescription needed right now.
October 7, 2017
It seems that the BBC’s reports on Mrs. May’s Conservative Party’s conference speech only included the coughing fits, the comedian with the fake P45 and the falling letter.
Very little mention of what was contained in the speech.
Did the BBC think this would benefit their EU supporting cause by destabilising Mrs. May’s position ?
The BBC should be careful as the likely future candidates for PM from both the Conservative and Labour parties favour Brexit more than Mrs. May.
October 7, 2017
After Theresa May`s election failure and her continued poor performance she would normally be long gone by now. The only reason she is in situ is because hard Brexit zealots in the Conservative Party know very well she is on their side . She made that clear at the previous conference when she promised hard Brexit and offered remain nothing.
An election would muddy the waters further especially with a transition period likely to stretch out whilst pragmatism takes the place of Nationalist religion.
Brexit is infecting everything and now it has given the country a lame duck PM held hoistage by the Brexit taliban
October 7, 2017
I don’t believe the Talban ever had a mandate with a 1.3 million majority.
What aren’t you getting about that ?
October 7, 2017
If the current PM provided any leadership it would be welcome.
Frankly, more speeches to the public on the opportunities of Brexit and decrying the doomsayers are long long overdue.
From a Conservative point of view, I guess it would help if ridiculous token policy offers were dropped in favour of more sensible thought-out policies. 5000 more homes a year is absolutely nothing. Such “baby-talk” is on a par with the social care policy that wiped out the mythical 100+ seat majority. Honesty, this country deserves better and I think the Conservatives should pull their socks up.
I say that as a non-conservative!
October 7, 2017
Next time there is an election I am going to find it very hard to support a nominally conservative party which has become so statist that it intends sequester corpses in the same way as it now sequesters the estates of those who die intestate and without family. We are looking at state sponsored body snatching. Yes I know organs can save lives. The resurrection men ultimately saved lives when they sold stolen bodies to medical schools. That did not make it right.
That said, May must go supporters need to be careful what they wish for. It seems very unlikely that Brexiteers and Remainders will be able to agree on another compromise candidate, so the most likely alternative is Corbyn. Hammond and Rudd must go would be preferable.
October 7, 2017
James, a good point. I had not thought of it like that. At least you can state that you are opting out of organ donation though.
With inheritance tax a simple opt out is not available. You can set up trusts and so on, but you have to survive for another seven years and trusts cost money and deny you use of the asset.
Probably best to just hide as much of your assets as possible. We are rapidly becoming like a Third World Country.
October 9, 2017
Read this today and thought this was as thorough and fitting
“If her reshuffle results in Brexiteers being moved out of the Cabinet to be replaced with Remainiacs, that will be proof positive what her intentions are with these “negotiations”. If she intends removing those who don’t agree with appeasing the EU by giving them everything they’re demanding, she’ll be gone by Christmas. We’ve been left waiting aimlessly for over a year whilst she did nothing, and if she now thinks the passage of time has somehow diminished people’s resolve she’s in for a very rude awakening. If reports are accurate we can expect to see Andrea Leadson shown the door, Boris, and even perhaps Liam Fox, leaving Rudd, Hammond and May leading the charge to selling us out. And knowing that Rees-Mogg is a firm supporter of Boris and a staunch Brexiteer, it’s unlikely May will bring him into the cabinet. May is walking on very thin ice”
Just saying Remainers have an Axe to grind and need to take back seat role as the country is Brexiting, the logical thing to do is replace Hammond and Rudd, Morgan and Grieve, Restrict Remainers talking on behalf of the government .
October 9, 2017
It’s a weird system where we vote for one person and then get another. then when the new incumbent legitimises herself by winning the public vote everyone clamours for her to go. I recall this is exactly how Red Ken gained control of the GLC. Imagine voting for Blair and getting Corbyn after a few months!