Theresa May

[Elroy Blue]

We don't pay our share either. The Tories only achieved the 2% defence spending target by fiddling the books. They included pensions and UN payments into the budget. It's a con that Cameron and May have become experts at.

[mjh64]

Is that not what the Americans do as well?

[loafer123]

mjh64 said:

Is that not what the Americans do as well?

Yes.

[RichB]

Where's Jawknee? This should please him!

BBC said:

Theresa May this morning finds her grip on British politics hugely strengthened.
For a governing party after seven years of austerity to be sweeping aside Labour in a heartland seat and to see their share of the vote increase in another is an extraordinary achievement.

[greygoose]

May has a big opportunity to shape the future of the country but as Andrew Neil and co were discussing last night, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of vision from May beyond a vague desire for grammar schools.

[anonymous-user]

greygoose said:

May has a big opportunity to shape the future of the country but as Andrew Neil and co were discussing last night, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of vision from May beyond a vague desire for grammar schools.

I agree, I think she's going to be able to make it her own and have some real power to make changes. but it's still unclear what that actually will be.

Possibly Brexit might be dominating things for her, my feeling is that she's doing a good job and quietly getting on with it. A pleasant change from the last few PMs. I expect most world leaders look quiet and thoughtful when compared to news dominating Trump though.

[Murph7355]

greygoose said:

May has a big opportunity to shape the future of the country but as Andrew Neil and co were discussing last night, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of vision from May beyond a vague desire for grammar schools.

I'm not sure that's wholly fair at present.

An awful lot of what needs shaping would probably be best covered in unison with or immediately after the Brexit piece, which necessarily will be the biggest thing for the next two years. Many of the levers at the government's disposal for the encouragement of business etc in the country are going to be both dependent on the outcome of negotiations (to an extent) and may also serve as good levers in the negotiations.

Education she's tinkering with. I'm not sure I totally agree with her approach (grammar schools and the implied "one size doesn't fit all" approach to education is good. The faith school nonsense not). But she's starting.

The NHS...I suspect any prospective leader just hopes it dies of natural causes! There is definitely more that could and should be done here. I'd really like for her to make efforts to remove politics from it, but with a slender majority at present I don't see that happening. Until they do, and until the politicians can act like grown ups and discuss a complete rethink, nothing material can be done with the NHS by anyone IMO. Maybe she should get Anne Widdecombe more involved - it seems to be her cause celebre at the moment and she speaks total sense on it. Maybe move Hunt aside and put AW in there.

The budget is an interesting one. They seem to have backed away from killing the deficit, which IMO is a huge, huge mistake. If we accept what the doom mongers say about Brexit, now would be a sensible time to be scraping away as much money as we can. The economy is doing well, especially relative to our peers, so we should be getting as much control as we can right now. Again, I suspect the distraction of Brexit and the slender majority play their part here. Maybe on that one it's best to give one or two sweeteners, see what Brexit delivers and we come out of it with an even bigger upside hold a GE, get a bigger majority and then start being inventive in this space

Transport - "stuff" is happening. HS2, the airport debacle inching closer to some sort of solution etc. It's another where I don't wholly agree on the solutions, but things are moving and if they do at least want to keep one hand on the purse strings, I wonder what more can be done right now.

So I see things moving (even if I don't agree with it all) but I see the time for being really critical about "vision" being a couple of years away once some key pieces start to land. And while ever the majority is small, expecting any more radical change over and above Brexit (which she is navigating well) is a little unrealistic IMO.

[Hosenbugler]

RichB said:

Where's Jawknee? This should please him!

BBC said:

Theresa May this morning finds her grip on British politics hugely strengthened.
For a governing party after seven years of austerity to be sweeping aside Labour in a heartland seat and to see their share of the vote increase in another is an extraordinary achievement.

Blimey, I wonder who stated that at the Beeb, and if they are still gnashing their teeth!

[Greenmantle]

As someone said above "no vision" from the PM at the moment.

At this moment in time we need someone with vision and a plan, strong willed and determined to fight the British Corner. We know that we are going to have a fight on our hands against the EU but fortune is on our side at the moment Holland, France and even Germany have elections looming and so why not press home the advantage. I certainly would.

To be fair on the PM I don't see anyone else doing this at the moment. Even Boris seems a bit lack lustre. I don't know if that is the overall "May" affect that she is having on all the members of her cabinet.

John

[Thorodin]

You seem to be implying that by the apparent lack of the usual bluster from all gov. ministers that means there is nothing being done and the ship is rudderless. Could it perhaps be that we are returning to an age of discretion and measured diplomacy, not to mention guarded release of sensitive info, at a vulnerable time?

[Digga]

Thorodin said:

You seem to be implying that by the apparent lack of the usual bluster from all gov. ministers that means there is nothing being done and the ship is rudderless. Could it perhaps be that we are returning to an age of discretion and measured diplomacy, not to mention guarded release of sensitive info, at a vulnerable time?

I'd favour the 'do no evil' approach over the flap about throwing policy st at the wall until something sticks whilst inadvertently causing chaos we've often endured.

[anonymous-user]

Hosenbugler said:

RichB said:

Where's Jawknee? This should please him!

BBC said:

Theresa May this morning finds her grip on British politics hugely strengthened.
For a governing party after seven years of austerity to be sweeping aside Labour in a heartland seat and to see their share of the vote increase in another is an extraordinary achievement.

Blimey, I wonder who stated that at the Beeb, and if they are still gnashing their teeth!

BBC hate corbyn. They want a centrist left Blairite leader. Any support for May is about getting rid of Corbyn.

[0000]

May's played an absolute blinder in the path she's treading with Brexit, completely taking the wind out of UKIP's sails at a time when Labour are looking like they might be scuppered. At least until 2025 or beyond.

[Murph7355]

0000 said:

May's played an absolute blinder in the path she's treading with Brexit, completely taking the wind out of UKIP's sails at a time when Labour are looking like they might be scuppered. At least until 2025 or beyond.

Not to mention disarming some of the more vocal in the EU elite whilst getting our ducks in a row.

Cameron must/should be wondering why he didn't stick it out - his reputation could have been so different.

[BlackLabel]

0000 said:

May's played an absolute blinder in the path she's treading with Brexit, completely taking the wind out of UKIP's sails at a time when Labour are looking like they might be scuppered. At least until 2025 or beyond.

+1

For years we were told that that the Eurosceptics will 1 - destroy the Tories from within and 2 - make them unelectable. However, we now have a Tory party as united as they've been in a long time and as electorally powerful as ever.

[zoom star]

I have not seen anything of BBCs Laura Kuennesberg (spl) since her question to DT has she been sidelined..??

[jonby]

Unsurprisingly, there is again talk of whether May should call a snap election

Think of what could happen.

UKIP are unelectable - their raison d'etre has gone now that we have voted out of the EU and May is going for hard Brexit, plus they have a leader who can no longer lead them into a GE given how he has been ripped apart over the last few weeks and there is nobody in the wings to take over. Regardless of their share of the national vote, they would be lucky to win 3 or 4 seats in a GE

The lib dems and TF are right now at least as pointless as they have been for decades. They may as well pack up and go home. Not sure they would do anything other than win fewer seats than the already pitifully low number they hold now

And labour would implode. Corbyn is unquestionably incredibly popular amongst the core labour membership but outside of that, he is seen as a (perhaps sincere, honest, genuine, well meaning) joke. Nobody outside the core of the left of the labour party see him as fit to run a birthday party, let alone a country. May had a great line in PMQs - you're running a protest party, I am running a country'. Many on the left who voted leave would surely consider voting Tory if there was snap election

I really do think a snap election could produce a landslide victory of record margins, not only cementing May's position as leader but also, cementing the position of leaving the EU and May's 'hard Brexit' proposal, putting to bed the idea of another vote

What's really amazing is that the only person who seems not to want a snap election is the one person who would prosper out of it meanwhile, all the dozy delusional leaders of the other parties want an election because they don't realize it would be their death warrants

So why doesn't May call an election ? I've read it's because she is risk averse - sorry, not buying it. The risk right now is almost non-existent. Is it because she genuinely has the country's interests at heart ? Because we've had enough of elections and as a country we need to get on with implementing some policies. I'd like to believe so, but I'm not used to the idea of a politician who genuinely puts the country before personal/party gain. Any thoughts ?

[PH XKR]

zoom star said:

I have not seen anything of BBCs Laura Kuennesberg (spl) since her question to DT has she been sidelined..??

Which question?

[Justayellowbadge]

jonby said:

Unsurprisingly, there is again talk of whether May should call a snap election

Think of what could happen.

UKIP are unelectable - their raison d'etre has gone now that we have voted out of the EU and May is going for hard Brexit, plus they have a leader who can no longer lead them into a GE given how he has been ripped apart over the last few weeks and there is nobody in the wings to take over. Regardless of their share of the national vote, they would be lucky to win 3 or 4 seats in a GE

The lib dems and TF are right now at least as pointless as they have been for decades. They may as well pack up and go home. Not sure they would do anything other than win fewer seats than the already pitifully low number they hold now

And labour would implode. Corbyn is unquestionably incredibly popular amongst the core labour membership but outside of that, he is seen as a (perhaps sincere, honest, genuine, well meaning) joke. Nobody outside the core of the left of the labour party see him as fit to run a birthday party, let alone a country. May had a great line in PMQs - you're running a protest party, I am running a country'. Many on the left who voted leave would surely consider voting Tory if there was snap election

I really do think a snap election could produce a landslide victory of record margins, not only cementing May's position as leader but also, cementing the position of leaving the EU and May's 'hard Brexit' proposal, putting to bed the idea of another vote

What's really amazing is that the only person who seems not to want a snap election is the one person who would prosper out of it meanwhile, all the dozy delusional leaders of the other parties want an election because they don't realize it would be their death warrants

So why doesn't May call an election ? I've read it's because she is risk averse - sorry, not buying it. The risk right now is almost non-existent. Is it because she genuinely has the country's interests at heart ? Because we've had enough of elections and as a country we need to get on with implementing some policies. I'd like to believe so, but I'm not used to the idea of a politician who genuinely puts the country before personal/party gain. Any thoughts ?

FTPA

[CrutyRammers]

jonby said:

So why doesn't May call an election ? I've read it's because she is risk averse - sorry, not buying it. The risk right now is almost non-existent. Is it because she genuinely has the country's interests at heart ? Because we've had enough of elections and as a country we need to get on with implementing some policies. I'd like to believe so, but I'm not used to the idea of a politician who genuinely puts the country before personal/party gain. Any thoughts ?

Because she needs either a 2/3 majority, or to call a vote of no confidence in herself. The former won't happen as none of the other parties would want it, and who's going to do the latter?
It's almost as if they drafted the fixed term parliaments act so that a government couldn't "just" call a snap election on a whim.