Theresa May

Wednesday September 7, 2022

September 7, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday September 7, 2022

*An animated making-of clip may be found here may be found here. 

Why Some People Think Theresa May’s Easy Question For Liz Truss Was Not A Win After All

January 18, 2019

Theresa May riled up the Tory benches during PMQs when she asked Liz Truss why all female prime ministers have come from the Conservative Party.

It was Truss’ first PMQs as the prime minister, but May – who was prime minister herself between 2016 and 2019 – already seems to have taken to Truss more than she ever took to Boris Johnson.

Speaking on Wednesday, May said: “May I congratulate my right-honourable friend and may I congratulate her in her position as the third female prime minister of the United Kingdom.

“Can I ask my right honourable friend, why does she think it is that all three female prime ministers have been Conservative?”

April 9, 2013

A wave of jeering then broke out from the Tory benches, while the camera flashed to May sitting back down, looking particularly pleased with herself.

It’s worth noting that when May confirming she would be stepping down in 2019, she closed her speech by pointing out that she was “the second female prime minister – but certainly not the last”.

Back in PMQs, Truss smiled, and replied: “I thank my right honourable friend for her fantastic question, and I look forward to calling on her advice from her time in office as I start my work as prime minister.

“It is quite extraordinary isn’t it, that there doesn’t seem to be the ability in the Labour Party to find a female leader, or indeed a leader who doesn’t come from north London.

“I don’t know what it is, I don’t know what the issue is!”

The issue has been a sore spot for Labour for several years, particularly after several women stood for the leadership role back in 2020, and none of them were elected.

July 13, 2022

Truss has also appointed the most diverse cabinet in history, with not a single white man occupying any of the three great offices of state of home secretary, foreign secretary or chancellor of the Exchequer.

These roles have gone to Suella Braverman, James Cleverly, and Kwasi Kwarteng, who all cracked up at May’s observation about Labour’s leadership.

But, the easy question – which took aim at the Labour Party who were still leading in the polls in August – dodges the actual crises facing the UK right now.

Truss’ in-tray is most likely overflowing, due to the energy crisis, the climbing cost of living, inflation, the war in Ukraine and the collapsing NHS.

Critics of the Conservatives were also quick to point out that it was, of course, easier for the Tories to appoint a female leader, as they have had four since 2016.

July 24, 2019

Still, May’s soft approach shows already that she shares more cordial relations with Truss compared to Johnson, even though she was often dubbed Johnson’s continuity candidate in the Tory leadership race.

May and Johnson clashed repeatedly throughout both of their premierships, particularly over Brexit and partygate.

In January, May hit out at the then-prime minister for breaching Covid rules, telling the Commons: “Nobody is above the law.

“This is important for ensuring the necessary degree of trust between the public and Government.

“Like so many, I was angry to hear stories of those in Number 10, who are responsible for setting the coronavirus rules, not properly following the rules.” (Huffington Post)  

Thursday March 14, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 14, 2019

‘Trudeau? Scandal? I don’t believe it’: As controversy rocks Canada’s PM, the world winces — then shrugs

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s political crisis has shaken Ottawa — and now, the tremors are starting to register abroad.

December 21, 2017

Outside the white-marble Newseum building in Washington on Thursday, the morning’s copy of the Globe and Mail sat behind glass, displayed alongside the front pages of newspapers from all 50 U.S. states, plus the District of Columbia.

Janet McCarty, a retired civil servant living in Washington, perused the headlines. Only one publication — the Globe — led with the latest on the SNC-Lavalin scandal, in which the Prime Minister’s Office stands accused of meddling in a criminal prosecution case against the Quebec engineering giant.

McCarty grimaced. Like many others on the political left, she’s always considered Trudeau an unimpeachable moral authority and darling of the international left.

“If this is true, then Justin is not the person that we thought he was,” she said.

McCarty lamented that another world leader with a global outlook, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, has decided not to seek re-election. Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa May, a Conservative, has faced at least eight cabinet resignations in less than two years over her controversial Brexit deal.

January 18, 2019

“Justin. I mean, they’re all — Angela Merkel, Theresa May — everybody’s going down the toilet,” McCarty said.

Trudeau’s brand as a global liberal icon is strong in some parts of the U.S., which might explain why Manuel Macias, 36, was so shocked to hear about the SNC-Lavalin affair when he stopped to scan the Newseum headlines this week.

“Trudeau? A scandal? I don’t believe it.

“In this day and age, we don’t really have a lot of shining light all across the world,” said Macias, who identifies as a liberal. “Unless something really comes out that’s proven facts, why throw dirt on him when we’ve got such a good positive role model?”

March 2, 2019

If the SNC-Lavalin debacle has been slow to gain traction outside of Canada, it may also have to do with domestic-scandal fatigue, at least in Britain and the U.S.

In London, John Prideaux, the U.S. editor for The Economist, cited Washington’s woes, as well as Britain’s mismanagement of a plan to withdraw from the European Union, as reasons why some Britons and Americans might not be tuning in.

“What’s happening in Canada looks to me like a more conventional political scandal that you get in a healthy political culture, where people are really held accountable for what they’ve done,” Prideaux said.

That said, the SNC-Lavalin affair has “broken through” the British press — no easy feat. (Continued: CBC) 

 

Friday January 18, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday January 18, 2019

Theresa May survives vote, but Britain remains in Brexit deadlock

Theresa May has survived as prime minister after weathering a dramatic no-confidence vote in her government, but was left scrambling to strike a Brexit compromise that could secure the backing of parliament.

In a statement in Downing Street on Wednesday night, the prime minister exhorted politicians from all parties to “put aside self-interest”, and promised to consult with MPs with “the widest possible range of views” in the coming days.

It followed her announcement that she would invite Jeremy Corbyn and other party leaders for immediate talks on how to secure a Brexit deal, something she had declined to do earlier in the day, although Labour later said Corbyn would decline the invitation unless no-deal was taken off the table.

A day after overwhelmingly rejecting her Brexit deal, rebel Conservatives and Democratic Unionist party (DUP) MPs swung behind the prime minister to defeat Labour’s motion of no confidence by 325 votes to 306 – a majority of 19.

In her late-night statement, the prime minister said: “I am disappointed that the leader of the Labour party has not so far chosen to take part – but our door remains open … It will not be an easy task, but MPs know they have a duty to act in the national interest, reach a consensus and get this done.” (Source: The Guardian) 

 

Friday December 14, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday December 14, 2018

5 Takeaways About Theresa May’s (Sort of) Victory

Prime Minister Theresa May survived a revolt on Wednesday by the hard-line, pro-Brexit parliamentary faction of her Conservative Party.

November 16, 2018

That will give her some time to try to get her plan for leaving the European Union — the same one that spurred the revolt — through Parliament.

But the final tally in the no-confidence vote on Wednesday also showed just how difficult that will be.

To pass legislation, Mrs. May needs the votes of all her party’s lawmakers and more — her government relies on the backing of a small Northern Ireland party. In this ballot, which was restricted to Conservative members of Parliament, 200 lawmakers supported her and 117 voted to eject her from office.

June 22, 2016

More than a third of her own party wanted someone else leading the Brexit process. That was especially sobering because about half of Conservative lawmakers also hold paid government posts of some sort; Mrs. May’s critics were quick to argue that she would have lost handily without the support of this “payroll vote.”

The prime minister bargained away her long-term political future to ensure she would survive the no-confidence vote, promising Conservative lawmakers that she would step down before a general election set for 2022.

A vote against Mrs. May’s leadership was effectively a vote against her agreement on leaving the European Union. (Her government is doing little else at the moment.)

June 24, 2016

European leaders will greet any attempt to rewrite the 585-page, legally binding withdrawal agreement with a resounding no. They refuse to abandon a so-called backstop arrangement that at least temporarily keeps Britain in a customs union with Europe to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and Ireland, which is a member of the European Union.

If Parliament does nothing before March 29, Britain’s relationship with the European Union will rupture overnight. Banking, trade, travel, food, medicines, the fluid border between Ireland and Northern Ireland — all would be thrown into flux. (Source: New York Times) 

 

Friday November 16, 2018

November 16, 2018

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday November 16, 2018

The Brutal Reality Of Brexit

June 25, 2016

Theresa May’s chickens are coming home to roost. The deal she agreed with Brussels is unravelling fast, and her premiership along with it. So far, seven of her ministers have resigned. Letters calling for her replacement are pouring in to the powerful chairman of the Conservative Party’s 1922 Committee: once he receives 48 letters, there could be a vote of confidence in her leadership, and perhaps a leadership challenge. Other Tories are calling for a second referendum. Meanwhile, the Labour party is slavering at the possibility of an early General Election. The political crisis that has been simmering since 2016 has erupted with a vengeance.

The political fallout from Mrs. May’s latest attempt to square the Brexit circle is understandable. Her Brexit deal is horrible. It would lock the UK into a “frozen Brexit”, neither in the EU nor completely out of it.  The U.K. would be forced to accept EU decisions over which it would have no say, and continuing to contribute to the EU budget despite no longer being a member. It would also be unable to enact its own trade deals with the rest of the world until the freeze ended. And it would be unable to end the freeze unilaterally.

June 22, 2016

The idea is that this “frozen Brexit” would initially be only for a transitional period ending in December 2020, when it would be superseded by a free trade agreement. But the proposal allows this date to be extended, if necessary for decades, if no free trade agreement is negotiated. And if the transition ends without a free trade agreement, then the entire U.K. would remain in a customs union with the EU indefinitely, but Northern Ireland would have a closer relationship with the EU than the rest of the U.K.

For Brexiters and Remainers alike, this is the worst of all possible solutions. But horrible though it is, this deal satisfies the conditions set by Mrs. May in her Lancaster House speech. It also satisfies the EU’s conditions. No other proposal achieves this. It is, therefore, the best deal available. The U.K. Government has struck a deal that allows Britain to have its cake and eat it – but the cake tastes so disgusting that no-one wants to eat it. (Source: Forbes)