Theresa May – Page 2 – mackaycartoons

Friday April 21, 2017

April 20, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday April 21, 2017

Snap Election called in Great Britain

March 30, 2017

In a dramatic statement on the steps of Downing Street, the British Prime Minister, Theresa May, fired the starting gun on a poll that she hopes will deliver her an unassailable majority to shape the country’s future.

She blamed opposition parties who have been trying to frustrate Brexit for her sudden change of heart after months insisting she will not hold an election – singling out Nicola Sturgeon’s efforts to exploit the situation to tear the UK apart.

The bold move took even Cabinet members by surprise, having been kept a closely guarded secret between a handful of the premier’s closest allies and aides.

March 14, 2003

Brexit Secretary David Davis and Chancellor Philip Hammond have been jointly pressing the PM to call an early vote for some time, and were informed of Mrs May’s decision at a meeting yesterday. Meanwhile, Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd are understood to have been told this morning shortly before the gathering of her top team in No10.

Mrs May revealed the shift was driven by soul-searching while she hiked in Snowdonia with husband Philip over the Easter break.

The media were given barely an hour’s notice of the speech this morning, and there had been no rumours at Westminster about her change of heart. Even as the Cabinet meeting began this morning, aides to senior ministers were still sending out updates on other areas of government business.

Mrs May said Britain needed strong leadership to navigate the fraught divorce talks with the EU, insisting she was now convinced an early poll was in the ‘national interest’.

She said ‘every vote for the Conservatives would give her a stronger hand when she sits across the negotiating table from the EU’s presidents and prime ministers to hammer out a Brexit deal.

The election is an astonishing U-turn from the Prime Minister who has repeatedly said she would not call another ballot before 2020 – insisting it would cause instability and hurt the country. (Source: Daily Mail)

Thursday March 30, 2017

March 29, 2017 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday March 30, 2017

Scotland to press on with referendum

Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to press on with a fresh independence referendum after dismissing Theresa May’s promise of substantial new powers for Scotland Brexit.

June 25, 2016

The first minister said May’s decision to trigger article 50 on Wednesday, beginning the UK’s divorce from the EU, was one of the most destructive acts by a British leader in modern history, threatening hundreds of thousands of jobs across the UK.

Writing for the Guardian, Sturgeon said the decision was dispiriting, economically foolhardy and constitutionally reckless, threatening stability in Northern Ireland. It also undermined European efforts to combat climate change and collective security, she said.

“Brexit – especially the hard Brexit shaped by May’s inability to shake off the agenda of the Ukip-tinged right wing of her own party – threatens to be an act of self-harm on a scale barely understood,” she said.

She accused May of paying only superficial attention to the Scottish government’s demands for a special deal on the single market, opening up further conflicts with the UK government over the benefits Scotland could gain from Brexit.

“The result is that we must now ensure that people in Scotland are given a choice between the hard Brexit deal now being negotiated, and independence,” she said.

Just as the prime minister told MPs at Westminster she had formally triggered article 50, Sturgeon had received a letter from David Davis, the UK Brexit secretary, insisting his government was engaging seriously with Sturgeon’s proposals.

Neither government would release Davis’s letter but it is understood that he told Sturgeon he was disappointed that she had launched her claim for an independence referendum before she saw the full extent of the new powers on offer once EU laws and regulations were repatriated. (Source: The Guardian)

Tuesday July 13, 2016

July 12, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay – Tuesday July 13, 2016

Theresa May’s first job? Tackling the damning legacy of David Cameron

The unexpectedly fast selection of Home Secretary Theresa May as the incoming new British prime minister means that she will now move into Downing Street on Wednesday, with David Cameron formally resigning to the Queen earlier that same day. The speedier-than-anticipated transition gives very little time for her to prepare for a massive agenda which, first and foremost, comprises tackling the damning legacy of Mr. Cameron – not just the British exit from the European Union, but also the United Kingdom itself unravelling.

This is a huge political task for Ms. May and the tragedy is that this troubled political inheritance was by no means inevitable, and stems in large part from Mr. Cameron’s own unwise decisions in office.

The EU referendum Mr. Cameron called was one of personal choice, not necessity, and reflected in large part his concerns in 2014 – before the last British general election – that the U.K. Independence Party posed a significant electoral threat to the ruling Conservatives.

Calling a referendum in these circumstances has proven to be a reckless gamble that has destroyed his premiership. Ms. May must now pick up the pieces and try to negotiate a Brexit on the best possible terms with Brussels and the other 27 member states in very difficult circumstances.

The referendum vote will have potentially massive implications for the longer-term future not just of the EU, but also the U.K. On the latter front, for instance, the U.K.’s current constitutional settlement has now become further destabilized with a significantly increased likelihood of a second Scottish independence referendum vote, and also the possibility of greater political uncertainty in Northern Ireland.

Unlike England and Wales, both Scotland and Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU last month. This is a point that has already been strongly emphasized by parties such as Sinn Fein and the Scottish Nationalist Party which favour the further fragmentation of the United Kingdom. (Continued: Globe & Mail)