May softens image ahead of ‘election’

Labour stumbles over Brexit

LONDON, May 10, (AFP): British Prime Minister Theresa May gave a first television interview alongside her husband Tuesday, sidelining Brexit to talk about family — and shoes — in a bid to soften her image ahead of the election.

Philip May, a banker who rarely speaks in public, joined his wife on the cosy sofa of the BBC’s One Show, a popular and relaxed early evening programme aired while many families are having dinner.

With old photographs and reflections on her “very happy childhood”, May’s appearance was geared to show another side of a premier who has drawn fire over her staid appearances on the campaign trail.

Discussing countryside walks, cooking, and a love of buying shoes such topics appeared aimed at cementing the prime minister as a likeable leader ahead of the June 8 vote.

May’s ruling Conservative Party has put her at the centre of its campaign. In recent days she has given speeches in front of posters proclaiming “Theresa May’s Team”, while newspaper adverts promote “Theresa May for Britain”.

The relegation of the Conservatives to the small print is unusual in British elections, where voters choose a party, not a prime minister.

But May denied claims that she is running a presidential-style race.

“It is about the Conservative Party, it’s about a team in the Conservative Party and obviously I’m the leader of that party,” she told the One Show.

“It’s about having a strong and stable government, a strong and stable leadership,” she added, repeating her campaign mantra.

Meanwhile, Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn launched the party’s general election campaign on Tuesday but was quickly caught in a muddle over his position on Brexit.

Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap general election for June 8 seeking a bigger mandate going into the Brexit negotiations with the European Union.

“This election isn’t about Brexit itself,” Corbyn said at the Labour campaign launch in Manchester, northwest England. “That issue has been settled. “The question now is what sort of Brexit do we want — and what sort of country do we want Britain to be after Brexit?”

The veteran socialist said Labour wanted a “jobsfirst Brexit” that safeguarded industry and improved the economy.

But his position quickly became less clear when the BBC asked him five times if Britain would leave the EU if he was prime minister, and he did not answer directly.

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British prosecutors said Wednesday they will not bring criminal charges against the ruling Conservative party for breaching election spending rules, in a reprieve for Prime Minister Theresa May ahead of next month’s vote.

After considering files of evidence from 14 police forces across England, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said that “no criminal charges have been authorised”.

The elections watchdog in March issued the Conservatives with its largest ever fine — £70,000 (80,000 euros, $86,000) — for misreporting expenses for the 2015 general election and three byelections in 2014.

The police investigations focused on whether candidates broke the law in 2015 by recording spending by busloads of party activists sent to key seats as part of national spending, not as part of more limited local budgets.

“Although there is evidence to suggest the returns may have been inaccurate, there is insufficient evidence to prove to the criminal standard that any candi-