Facing Brexit challenge, Britain's May vows to fight on

By William James

 

FILE PHOTO: Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May leaves after attending the annual Henley Royal Regatta rowing festival in Henley-on-Thames, Britain, June 30, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Theresa May will promise to fight on as prime minister and pursue bold domestic reform despite her diminished authority in a speech this week relaunching her leadership after 12 tumultuous months in power.

 

As her minority government prepares to start the difficult task of passing Brexit through parliament, May will remind Britons of her promise to build a fairer society, seeking to repair a reputation damaged by an ill-judged snap election.

 

Almost one year on from her first day as prime minister -- a job she took on after Britain's shock referendum vote to leave the European Union -- May will urge voters and political opponents to help her "tackle the injustice and vested interests that threaten to hold us back".

 

"My commitment to change in Britain is undimmed," May will say on Tuesday, according to advanced extracts from her speech.

 

May called the election on June 8 in an attempt to cash in on high poll ratings and win support for her plan to make a clean break with the EU in 2019.

 

But the gamble backfired when voters stripped her of a majority in parliament and forced her party into a deal with a small Northern Irish party to prop up a minority government.

 

"In this new context, it will be even more important to make the case for our policies and our values, and to win the battle of ideas both in parliament as well as in the country," May will say.

 

CONFIDENCE

 

May's ability to carry on as prime minister and drive Brexit legislation through parliament with only a fragile majority behind her has been persistently questioned since the election.

 

But May's position seems secure for now, with colleagues preferring to see her start Brexit talks rather than topple her and risk the government collapsing -- a scenario that could let a resurgent opposition Labour Party into power.

 

The first stage of the Brexit process will come later this week when a key piece of legislation, which translates EU law into British law, is presented to parliament.

 

Damian Green, who as First Secretary of State is effectively May's deputy, told Sky News he was confident the government could get the legislation through .

 

Asked about media reports of plots to oust her, Green said it was simply "gossip and chatter" at summer parties.

 

"There is no credible plot going on," he said. "The prime minister is determined to carry on, to lead the party and the country for many years to come and the overwhelming majority of Conservative MPs (lawmakers) are behind her in that."

 

May will make the appeal for national backing at the launch of a report into how the government should protect workers affected by a shift to different employment models, including the 'gig economy' championed by the likes of Uber and Deliveroo.

 

The report is a key element of May's plan to address dissatisfaction expressed at the referendum by working class Britons who felt left behind by globalisation.

 

"At this critical time in our history, we can either be timid or we can be bold," May will say. "We will act with an unshakeable sense of purpose to build the better, fairer Britain which we all want to see."

 

(Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan, Editing by Catherine Evans)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-7-10

Geez, give her a fair go at it. Only a year and they're lining up to have a go at her. Doesn't seem right to me, particularly not in a country that willingly lets its cricket captains go on in the job for years in failure after failure.

Respect for her.
She is a remainer but has to make the work for the brexiters, which have all run away with a clamped tail.

Bye bye May be, May be bye bye!

 

 

4 hours ago, Prbkk said:

Geez, give her a fair go at it. Only a year and they're lining up to have a go at her. Doesn't seem right to me, particularly not in a country that willingly lets its cricket captains go on in the job for years in failure after failure.

Not for me, thanks. I hear this constant 'Corbyn would take us back to the 1970s'. Well May would have us back to Dickens in that case.

The Dementia Tax is under review, for example? Yeah, 'Under Review' until the instant she and her party think they can get away with imposing it. Then 'Austerity Britain is over'. No it isn't: her party have just recently voted down a pay increase for public service workers and appeared to delight in doing so.

She has had a chance over the years to prove her mettle and I for one would like to see her kicked out like a dog in the night, then abandoned and told 'Just get off your backside and retrain as something else. You bludgers just keep dragging us down...'

15 hours ago, Grouse said:

Bye bye May be, May be bye bye!

 

 

Not sure about the comment but yes I vote for Frankie Valli , concert last year and he was 82 yo.

22 hours ago, Prbkk said:

Geez, give her a fair go at it. Only a year and they're lining up to have a go at her. Doesn't seem right to me, particularly not in a country that willingly lets its cricket captains go on in the job for years in failure after failure.

I take your point about the cricket captains.  With May though she has had a year and achieved nothing.  She has misread the British public over and over again.  The idea of a PM is that they are there to represent the will of the people and she hasn't and that is why she has lost her majority at a time when she should have increased it.  Now being so weakened she gives off an air of desperation and that is no way to enter negotiations for Brexit.  Appointing Johnson as foreign secretary and allowing Hunt to remain as minister for health was the first of a long list of faux pas.

 

I don't want to see Corbyn as PM because I don't think he is capable of doing the job but May really does need to go!

There's only a very select few within the Conservatives who'd be able to step into May's shoes & neither both the Conservatives or the EU want a change of PM at this critical time, it would be beyond madness.

Corbyn, spouts he wants PM buts hasn't the spine, tenacity or ability to be PM and get the UK through Brexit. He's a fair campaigner but unwilling to make harsh unpopular but necessary decisions apart from putting the UK into the Stone Age for his own deluded agenda.


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