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Under pressure, PM May says she can steer Britain through Brexit

By Elizabeth Piper and Kate Holton

 

Britain's Prime Minister, Theresa May leaves the Midland Hotel on the opening day of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Britain October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Phil Noble

 

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) - Apologising for losing her Conservative Party's majority at a June election, Prime Minister Theresa May responded to her critics on Sunday by saying she had the right strategy to lead Britain and win a Brexit deal.

 

May, who has faced calls from within her party to step down, wants to use the Conservatives' annual conference in the northern English city of Manchester this week to try to reset her agenda, offering money to students and those people she once described as "just about managing" in Britain.

 

In an interview with BBC television, she dismissed talk of rifts among top ministers, saying they were united on their programme and more importantly Brexit. That came a day after foreign minister Boris Johnson, perhaps May's biggest rival, set out four personal red lines in the complex talks with the EU.

 

But with thousands of protesters demanding Britain stay in the European Union just outside the conference gates, May has a long way to go to unite not only her governing party, but also the country after last year's divisive referendum vote.

 

"We've listened to the message that came from that (June) election. But I've been very clear, I called the election, I led the campaign, I take my responsibility and I'm sorry that some very good members of parliament lost their seats," May said in an appeal to those party members still angry over the vote.

 

"What I have is a cabinet that is united in the mission of this government ... and agreed on the approach that we took in Florence," May said about a speech she made in Italy last month to try to kick-start Brexit talks that had all but stalled.

 

"Boris is absolutely behind the Florence speech and the line that we have taken."

 

Divisions in her cabinet have broken out into the open, with ministers using the media to air their differences not only on Brexit, but also on the government's approach to austerity - with many Conservatives concerned about the growing appeal of the main opposition Labour Party.

 

After ministers agreed to seek a transition period following Britain's departure from the EU in March 2019, Johnson said on the eve of the conference that this should last for two years at most; that Britain should not accept new EU or European Court of Justice rulings during transition; must not make payments for single market access when the transition ends; and should not agree to shadow EU regulations to gain access.

 

While not a clear departure from May's own stance, it increases pressure on her not give too much away in the talks to unravel more than 40 years of union with EU negotiators, who say they have yet to make enough progress to move to a discussion of the two sides' future relationship.

 

Another contender to replace May, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson told the conference it was time to "unite behind our leader to get the best deal for us and the right deal for Europe as well".

 

WEAKENED

 

Following a bullish Labour conference last week, May hopes to fire up thousands of Conservative party members who feel let down by a disastrous election campaign, when their leader was dubbed by critics "the Maybot" for her repetition of slogans.

 

May is now dependent on a small Northern Irish party for a majority in parliament, and opinion polls indicate Labour is a growing threat, persuading rivals in the party not to try to topple her quite yet.

 

On her 61st birthday, she unveiled new policies to extend a programme to help people buy their own homes and to freeze student tuition fees to try to win back younger people, who have flocked to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

 

She offered Brexit supporters a promise that she would walk away if she could not get a good deal, saying the government was working on plans for a 'no deal'; and tried to keep pro-EU campaigners onside by saying she wanted an agreement.

 

May's ally and effective deputy Damian Green said he was confident she could lead the Conservatives into the next election in 2022 and criticised those fuelling leadership speculation that hampers "a job not just for the party but more importantly for the government and the country".

 

But May has a long way to go to win over doubters.

 

"If you run any organisation ... and something goes monumentally wrong, as did the election ... then the buck does have to stop with that individual," said Grant Shapps, former Conservative Party chairman.

 

"The reality is, every serious person knows, of course she can't lead us into the next election."

 

(Additional reporting by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Dale Hudson)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-10-02

[terryw]

May is toast. We need a true Brexiteer as PM.

[Kadilo]

She can't even steer her own Cabinet in a straight line so I think it is unlikely. 

[Baerboxer]

She's being allowed to stay on as a potential "throw under the bus" fall woman. 

 

Whatever happens now she's unlikely to have much of a future career in politics or be remembered kindly by history.

 

She'll be blamed when they can't get a deal, then the hard Brexiters will get what they wanted and off the cliff we go. The resulting economic turmoil will cost them the next election and Commie Corbyn and his cronies will take the UK back to the 70"s with massive debts, low productivity, union power, worker control and re-nationalizations.

 

On course for the UK to be a spent out, sick man of Europe, with third world standards being run by twerps more concerned with terrorist's rights. political correctness, and forcing everyone to swallow their barmy KPI's that show everything is wonderful!

 

Well done Cameron, you achieved what no European power managed in several centuries - destroyed the UK.

[dunroaming]

1 hour ago, Baerboxer said:

She'll be blamed when they can't get a deal, then the hard Brexiters will get what they wanted and off the cliff we go. The resulting economic turmoil will cost them the next election and Commie Corbyn and his cronies will take the UK back to the 70"s with massive debts, low productivity, union power, worker control and re-nationalizations.

 

It certainly sends a shiver down the spine.  The big mistake as we know was agreeing to a referendum and that was Cameron's fault.  Politicians tend to have their priorities pretty skewed and self preservation is high on their agenda. You now have a situation where the politicians are all jockeying for position with people tossing the poisoned chalice around until the music stops.  Who will be left holding it next is still to be determined.

 

Now post Cameron we have this bigger mess to deal with and there is nobody currently fit to move us forward.  Brexit has split the country in two and the divide seems to be getting deeper as we stumble along trying to find a way through it all.  The result is likely to be very painful whichever way it falls.  Of course May needs to go but the alternatives don't exactly bode well do they?

 

 

[chrissables]

1 hour ago, dunroaming said:

 

It certainly sends a shiver down the spine.  The big mistake as we know was agreeing to a referendum and that was Cameron's fault.  Politicians tend to have their priorities pretty skewed and self preservation is high on their agenda. You now have a situation where the politicians are all jockeying for position with people tossing the poisoned chalice around until the music stops.  Who will be left holding it next is still to be determined.

 

Now post Cameron we have this bigger mess to deal with and there is nobody currently fit to move us forward.  Brexit has split the country in two and the divide seems to be getting deeper as we stumble along trying to find a way through it all.  The result is likely to be very painful whichever way it falls.  Of course May needs to go but the alternatives don't exactly bode well do they?

 

 

The big mistake as we know was agreeing to a referendum and that was Cameron's fault.  

 

If the vote had been stay would you have said the same?

[dunroaming]

3 minutes ago, chrissables said:

The big mistake as we know was agreeing to a referendum and that was Cameron's fault.  

 

If the vote had been stay would you have said the same?

 

Yes.  Because stay or leave it has caused such a split in society and that itself is corrosive and unsettling.  The only way to have a workable referendum is to lay out the facts on both sides without all the lying and bulls*it and without politicians using it for spurious power plays.  That is not a call for a second referendum because to be honest I think we would still be fed more lies and scare tactics from both sides.  This is the politicians game and always has been.  The cost is still to be seen but the people have been let down massively, whether a leaver or a remainer

[maxcorrigan]

6 hours ago, Baerboxer said:

She's being allowed to stay on as a potential "throw under the bus" fall woman. 

 

Whatever happens now she's unlikely to have much of a future career in politics or be remembered kindly by history.

 

She'll be blamed when they can't get a deal, then the hard Brexiters will get what they wanted and off the cliff we go. The resulting economic turmoil will cost them the next election and Commie Corbyn and his cronies will take the UK back to the 70"s with massive debts, low productivity, union power, worker control and re-nationalizations.

 

On course for the UK to be a spent out, sick man of Europe, with third world standards being run by twerps more concerned with terrorist's rights. political correctness, and forcing everyone to swallow their barmy KPI's that show everything is wonderful!

 

Well done Cameron, you achieved what no European power managed in several centuries - destroyed the UK.

Blair sowed the seeds long before Cameron and pretty well split the UK at the same time!

[Grouse]

12 hours ago, terryw said:

May is toast. We need a true Brexiteer as PM.

 

Brexit is toast

 

Nobody, Nobody now thinks Brexit is a good idea. The politicians ( excluding the evil greedy bastards) all know it's a disaster. They just paid lip service to the ****** ****** ****

No point now; game over. Tilt!

Edited October 2, 2017 by Grouse
****** mistake

[dunroaming]

1 hour ago, maxcorrigan said:

Blair sowed the seeds long before Cameron and pretty well split the UK at the same time!

Actually I think it goes back to Churchill. 

[dunroaming]

1 hour ago, Grouse said:

 

Brexit is toast

 

Nobody, Nobody now thinks Brexit is a good idea. The politicians ( excluding the evil greedy bastards) all know it's a disaster. They just paid lip service to the ****** ****** ****

No point now; game over. Tilt!

 

Unfortunately there are still some with their heads buried deep in the Brexit sand.  For the government to admit defeat over Brexit just won't happen.  They need a get-out and because they keep banging the same old drum about Brexit they keep narrowing their options.

[aright]