'Dead woman walking': UK Prime Minister Theresa May clings to power
'Dead woman walking': UK Prime Minister Theresa May clings to power
UK Prime Minister Theresa May was clinging to power by her political fingertips on Sunday after losing her parliamentary majority in last Thursday's election, as an agreement with the minority Democratic Unionist Party that would keep the Conservatives in power was still not finalized.
May's
co-chiefs of staff, Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill, handed in their
resignations on Saturday following the disastrous election. The vote was
called by May to strengthen her position ahead of talks to leave the
European Union, in the end it left her weakened.
Both
Downing Street and the DUP issued statements late Saturday saying talks
over a deal to prop up the government would resume next week amid
concern among more liberal Conservatives about May hitching her wagon to
the right-wing Northern Irish party. Earlier, Downing Street had said a
preliminary agreement had already been secured.
The
DUP is similar to the "religious right" in the United States and takes a
hardline stance on social issues, such as same-sex marriage and
abortion.
'Dead woman walking'
Corbyn will push a substantial amendment to the Queen's Speech.
Meanwhile
the main opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said that he stands
ready to lead the country and that a new general election could be held
within months.
"I
think its quite possible there'll be an election later this year or
early next year, and that might be a good thing, because we cannot go on
with a period of great instability," he told the BBC's Andrew Marr on
Sunday
Michael
Gove has been appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs. He was also a backer of Brexit, and lost to May in the
2015 Tory leadership election.
Many of those Conservatives now opposing May are those who wanted to remain in the EU.
"Theresa
May is a dead woman walking, it just remains to be seen how long she
remains on death row," George Osborne, the former UK chancellor who was
sacked by May last year, told the BBC on Sunday.
The
right-wing British press speculated Sunday that Foreign Secretary Boris
Johnson, a former journalist and the former Mayor of London, was
plotting a leadership coup.
But
Osborne, who is now the editor of London's Evening Standard newspaper,
downplayed the prospect. "He's in a permanent leadership campaign so I
am not sure it qualifies as news," he said.
The
new arithmetic of the House of Commons will also makes Brexit
negotiations more difficult. The DUP, although it wants to leave the EU,
will insist on keeping the single market that allows the free flow of
goods across the UK's border with Ireland.
"One
piece of good news is the whole election has put pay to a hard Brexit,"
Osborne told CNN. "The votes aren't there now in the (House of) Commons
for taking Britain out of all the economic arrangements we have with
the European Union," he said.
.
In Ireland, there is growing concern
that by bringing the DUP into government, London will no longer be able
to perform its traditional role as an impartial broker in the Northern
Ireland peace process.
May spoke to the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny over the phone on Sunday.
"The
Taoiseach indicated his concern that nothing should happen to put the
Good Friday Agreement at risk and the challenge that this agreement will
bring," the Irish government said in a statement. "He also noted the
absence of any nationalist voice in Westminster following the election."
The
Good Friday Agreement was a major development in the peace process of
the 1990s that brought peace to the region after decades of conflict.
Seven
Republican Sinn Fein members who want a united Ireland were also
elected on Thursday, but they do not attend or vote as the party does
not recognize Westminster rule.
Pressure from all sides
May
called the general election three years earlier than required by law,
with the aim of sweeping an even greater majority for her party before Brexit talks in just eight days to take the country out of the EU.
But
a dismal campaign has left the Prime Minister fending off a mutiny
within her own party. Conservative MPs are publicly airing their anger,
some calling for her ouster and others demanding radical change in her
style of leadership.
Ruth
Davidson, the openly gay leader of the Conservatives in Scotland, told
the BBC she had words with May over the DUP's record on LGBT rights.
Defense
Secretary Michael Fallon said on the Andrew Marr show he believed the
Conservative Party and the DUP will be able to hold together in
government. "They (the DUP) are going to support us on the big Brexit,
economic and security issues facing this country," he said.
On
Sunday, May appointed former BBC journalist Damien Green as First
Secretary of State -- effectively May's deputy Prime Minister -- in a
reshuffle of her cabinet. Many key positions were unchanged.
Michael
Gove has been appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs. He was also a backer of Brexit, and lost to May in the
2015 Tory leadership election.
Her
new chief of staff will be Gavin Barwell, a former MP who was ousted
from his south London constituency as a result of Labour's unexpectedly
strong showing in the election. May said that he would bring
"considerable experience" to the post.
May promises 'stability and certainty'
In
her post-election reshuffle, May said she appointed ministers that
reflect "the wealth of talent and experience across the Conservative
Party."
In a television interview
Sunday with Sky News at Downing Street, May say she would help deliver
the "stability and certainty" the country needs during the reshuffling.
When
asked if she would continue her term in office May said, "I said during
the election campaign that if re-elected I would intend to serve a full
term. But what I'm doing now is actually getting on with the immediate
job."
May also said she would be
meeting with her cabinet on Monday and going to France on Tuesday for
meetings with French President Macron.
No Comment to " 'Dead woman walking': UK Prime Minister Theresa May clings to power "