There is so much comment in the media today regarding Theresa May standing down as Prime Minister. I am compelled to quickly throw in my three penny worth - ha!
Few would argue Theresa May didn't work hard - try hard. Few would argue she did not show integrity or tried in her own way to deliver Brexit. However she badly failed because she was ineffectual and lacking in so many ways. Here are some observations:
1) Her premiership got off to a terrible start. She called a snap election and lost the Conservative majority in 2017. She made appalling manifesto errors on funding social care and removing the pension triple lock. She was forced to withdrawal her proposals mid campaign. Her mantra "strong and stable" rang hollow as a result. Her standing with her colleagues was diminished (their discipline) from this point and many of her subsequent Brexit problems flowed from a lack of majority.
2) At an early stage she allowed the EU to bully us. She should never accepted the withdrawal treaty had to be dealt with before negotiating the future relationship. She should have stuck to no deal if necessary. She didn't. Consequently her proposed withdrawal agreement would place us totally over a barrel when it came to negotiating the future relationship. It was so obvious. Such a crass and naïve mistake. Of course any MP with half an ounce of business acumen would not support her disastrous first step because it castrated us in the next stage. She was never going to get her grovelling withdrawal agreement through and the penny just would not drop. Pathetic.
1) Her premiership got off to a terrible start. She called a snap election and lost the Conservative majority in 2017. She made appalling manifesto errors on funding social care and removing the pension triple lock. She was forced to withdrawal her proposals mid campaign. Her mantra "strong and stable" rang hollow as a result. Her standing with her colleagues was diminished (their discipline) from this point and many of her subsequent Brexit problems flowed from a lack of majority.
2) At an early stage she allowed the EU to bully us. She should never accepted the withdrawal treaty had to be dealt with before negotiating the future relationship. She should have stuck to no deal if necessary. She didn't. Consequently her proposed withdrawal agreement would place us totally over a barrel when it came to negotiating the future relationship. It was so obvious. Such a crass and naïve mistake. Of course any MP with half an ounce of business acumen would not support her disastrous first step because it castrated us in the next stage. She was never going to get her grovelling withdrawal agreement through and the penny just would not drop. Pathetic.
3) She was never enthused by the Brexit decision (a remainer) - never talked it up - never really talked about the opportunities Brexit offered in a positive way. She never countered the arguments from remain regarding project fear.
4) In the same way she never really countered with passion why Labour's solution - (respect the referendum result but stay in permanent customs union with close regulatory alignment) was at best Brino - certainly not Brexit the people voted for.
5) An obvious weakness in the UK position was MP's from all sides were undermining her official position. Groups of MP's from all sides were trailing off to Brussels with their ideas and giving the EU negotiating team succour and encouragement. She was so listless in responding to this problem. She should have been vehement and angry. They were undermining their country. They were damaging our interests. We got none of that. You keep coming back to ineffectual leadership!
5) An obvious weakness in the UK position was MP's from all sides were undermining her official position. Groups of MP's from all sides were trailing off to Brussels with their ideas and giving the EU negotiating team succour and encouragement. She was so listless in responding to this problem. She should have been vehement and angry. They were undermining their country. They were damaging our interests. We got none of that. You keep coming back to ineffectual leadership!
6) So consequently she only ever gave the impression Brexit was a proposal to be managed rather than a fantastic opportunity to stand on our own two feet and shape our own destiny. To her credit she was strong on the democratic imperative and the damaging effect on our democracy of not delivering the peoples decision - but only from a technocratic point of view. Where was the statesmanship ?
7) She was a useless negotiator. She was right at the outset when she said no deal was better than a bad deal. She never really explained why - and never followed it through in reality. She was never loud about no deal preparation in a way that would make her opponents really believe it. Everyone knows, if you have any practical experience of life, that you will never be able to negotiate successfully if the other side believes you will never walk away. Her leadership was naïve when it came to the art of negotiation.
8) She should have seen a no deal Brexit was a likely outcome because of EU intransigence.. A true Brexiteer would have invested heavily in preparing for it - after all it is the default legal position if there is no deal acceptable deal agreed.
9)Perhaps worst of all - she subsequently sought compromise on a binary issue. The referendum was given to the people to vote on whether to stay in or leave the EU. We voted to leave - not half stay in. She should have been passionate - Brexit is not a compromise issue and shaped her arguments and strategy with that basic understanding. Instead she fell into the trap of those playing political games or worse - trying to thwart Brexit through the back door. So in the end she satisfied nobody.
Overall she facilitated doubt in what Brexit means. She was wishy washy. She allowed debate and discussion where she should have closed it down. Brexit means Brexit. and have been decisive about that. She should have been contemptuous with the argument there are different types of Brexit. (The people voted to take back control of our laws money borders and to be able to trade freely with the rest of the world - that is the only Brexit.) The weight of conviction, positivity, enthusiasm, guile was just not there. She was lack lustre. Just about everyone could see she was not up to the job and that was reflected it her hapless negotiating team - particularly Ollie Robbins.
We need a new vitality - a Brexit believer that truly reflects the mood of the country and what the country wants. We need someone clear minded and determined to show how Britain can have a bright future through Brexit and at the same time uphold our democracy (which is more important than anything else.) It has been such a frustrating time.
8) She should have seen a no deal Brexit was a likely outcome because of EU intransigence.. A true Brexiteer would have invested heavily in preparing for it - after all it is the default legal position if there is no deal acceptable deal agreed.
9)Perhaps worst of all - she subsequently sought compromise on a binary issue. The referendum was given to the people to vote on whether to stay in or leave the EU. We voted to leave - not half stay in. She should have been passionate - Brexit is not a compromise issue and shaped her arguments and strategy with that basic understanding. Instead she fell into the trap of those playing political games or worse - trying to thwart Brexit through the back door. So in the end she satisfied nobody.
Overall she facilitated doubt in what Brexit means. She was wishy washy. She allowed debate and discussion where she should have closed it down. Brexit means Brexit. and have been decisive about that. She should have been contemptuous with the argument there are different types of Brexit. (The people voted to take back control of our laws money borders and to be able to trade freely with the rest of the world - that is the only Brexit.) The weight of conviction, positivity, enthusiasm, guile was just not there. She was lack lustre. Just about everyone could see she was not up to the job and that was reflected it her hapless negotiating team - particularly Ollie Robbins.
We need a new vitality - a Brexit believer that truly reflects the mood of the country and what the country wants. We need someone clear minded and determined to show how Britain can have a bright future through Brexit and at the same time uphold our democracy (which is more important than anything else.) It has been such a frustrating time.
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