We can hand May her P45

IN the aftermath of a disastrous party conference overshadowed by the formation of a plot to oust her, “strong and stable” Theresa May has never been so lonely.

The party is undergoing a major crisis, reportedly to the point where some of her own cabinet members refuse to speak with each other.

How the tables have turned against those bleating Tory braggarts who invented vindictive rumours against Jeremy Corbyn, and exhausted every effort to write him off as some bogeyman of “the hard left”, hellbent on devouring children, spoiling crops and making animals sick.

The prime minister’s speech to the Conservative Party conference, beginning with a humble apology, was intended to defuse the festering civil war within her party and uniting the cabal with a tedious narrative of overblown fear and revulsion of Mr Corbyn, an inveterate champion of social justice with 34 years’ experience as a Parliamentarian (Mrs May has only been an MP since 1997).

It might have almost been convincing had it not been for Boris Johnson’s reluctance to stand and applaud Mrs May, reportedly only doing so after he was told off by Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Feeble anti-Corbyn scaremongering aside, what did Mrs May’s speech offer a nation crippled by several years of aggressive, ideological austerity measures? Only more ill-conceived policies and a bland defence of the supposed “virtues” of free-market fundamentalism.

Theresa May is a weak leader, and her party has scarcely been so divided; an effective mass movement involving workers, trade unions, young people, community groups, anti-cuts campaigners and other concerned parties could hand Mrs May her P45 for real. What are we waiting for? Daniel Pitt Mountain Ash