May echoes Queen’s call for respectful debate

PRIME Minister Theresa May echoed a call made by Queen Elizabeth for respectful debate in Britain, May’s spokesperson said yesterday, while declining to comment directly on remarks from the monarch seen as a message to politicians on Brexit.

The Queen has sent a delicately coded message to Britain’s fractious political class, urging politicians to seek common ground and grasp the big picture to resolve the crisis.

“With great respect, I wouldn’t wish to comment directly on the views of her majesty,” May’s spokesperson told reporters when asked about the Queen’s comments. “The prime minister’s own view is that we should always show great respect for the point of view of others.”

With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Britain to leave the EU, the UK is in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973.

While Elizabeth, 92, did not mention Brexit explicitly in an annual speech to her local Women’s Institute in Norfolk, she said every generation faced “fresh challenges”.

“As we look for new answers in the modern age, I, for one, prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view, coming together to seek out the common ground and never losing sight of the bigger picture,” she said.

The remarks, in the context of Britain’s crisis, are a signal to politicians to sort out the turmoil that has pushed its economy to the brink. |