BRITAIN BACKS MAY
But whatever you do Prime Minister don’t call another General Election
THERESA May has kept a commanding opinion poll lead over Jeremy Corbyn despite a bruising few weeks for her Government, an exclusive survey reveals today.
Nearly half of voters (46 per cent) think Britain’s economy would be weaker if the Labour leader replaced her in Downing Street, while 43 per cent think she is “the right person for the job”, according to the ComRes State-of-the-Nation poll for the Daily Express.
And the Tories do not appear to have suffered any loss of popularity from the Windrush scandal that forced Amber Rudd to quit as Home Secretary earlier this week, the research shows.
Labour and the Tories are level-pegging at 40 per cent each in the poll, virtually unchanged from a previous survey before the scandal about the immigration status of Caribbean migrants
and their descendants erupted. The poll findings are likely to cheer the Prime Minister and her team ahead of town hall elections in England tomorrow, the first electoral test for her Government since last year’s general election.
But one senior Tory backbencher warned Mrs May that there was no appetite in the country for another general election.
Designed to give a snapshot of the nation’s mood ahead of the local vote, the poll also found voters are upbeat about modern Britain and take particular pride in the country’s Royal Family and NHS.
Andrew Hawkins, ComRes chairman, said: “That the two main parties are polling neck and neck despite Theresa May’s considerable lead over Jeremy Corbyn on economic management points either to voters being prepared to support a party that they believe will them poorer, or at election time they will instead opt for what they feel is the safer option.
“The danger for Labour is not just that there is a discrepancy, it is the scale of it, including among young people whose support is vital if the Party is to stand a chance of winning an election.”
The ComRes survey of more than 2,000 voters, conducted online last weekend, showed 47 per cent of voters think international confidence in Britain’s economy is stronger with Mrs May as Prime Minister than it would be under Mr Corbyn. Only 30 per cent disagreed with the statement.
It also found that Tory support was unchanged at 40 per cent since a previous poll by the firm published in the Sunday Express on April 13.
Labour support was down by one point to 40 per cent while the Lib Dems were up two points to nine per cent.
Labour’s failure to capitalise on the Government’s recent rocky patch has led to a growing confidence in Tory ranks.
Senior Conservatives believe Mr Corbyn’s own troubles over allegations of antiSemitism in his party and his refusal to back robust action against Russia and Syria is damaging his populist appeal. Some Brexit ministers are even understood to be pressing Theresa May to signal her readiness to call a snap general election as a threat to bring Brexit rebels into line. But one senior backbencher slapped the idea down last night, saying: “An election now would be stupid. It didn’t work last year and wouldn’t work now.”
Their verdict came after a minister told the Daily Express: “With the Remainers becoming so intransigent, the Prime Minister may need to call their bluff by going to the country.”
The minister added: “She may need to call a Brexit election to settle this once and for all. We need to make life uncomfortable for Remain-backing MPs who represent constituencies that voted Leave. Labour would be slaughtered in its northern heartlands if the party backed staying in the customs union. It would be a complete betrayal of the referendum.”
Mrs May today convenes a meeting of her Brexit sub-committee to discuss whether a controversial blueprint for a “customs partnership” should become the Government’s preferred option in the negotiations with Brussels. Ministers
are bitterly divided over the issue, with Brexit enthusiasts fearing the plan is an attempt to keep Britain tied to the customs union forever.
One Whitehall source said: “The committee is split down the middle and the decision could come down to a show of hands.” Cabinet Brexiteers were furious after peers, including 19 rebel Tories, backed a rebel amendment seeking to give Parliament powers to reject an EU exit deal and force the Government to reopen talks. Mrs May was yesterday said to be planning a “robust” response to overturn the Lords vote.
At a Cabinet meeting, ministers had expressed their “strong disappointment” at measures passed by the Lords which risked “tying the Government’s hands behind its back in negotiations with Brussels”, Downing Street said. Asked about the vote in the House of Lords, the PM’s spokesman said: “There is a role for it to play in providing scrutiny, but the British public have voted to leave the European Union and Parliament needs to get on and deliver that.” ●ComRes interviewed 2,030 UK adults online between April 27 and 29 2018. Data were weighted to be representative of all GB adults and by past vote recall and likelihood to vote. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full tables at comresglobal.com
HUNDREDS of unelected peers – many with ties to Brussels – were last night accused of trying to “thwart the will of the British people” after meddling with key Brexit legislation.
On Monday, the Lords, including 19 Tory rebels, backed an amendment that could see Parliament sending Britain back to the drawing board if it does not approve the terms of our withdrawal from the EU.
Key changes to the Brexit Bill have given Parliament the ability to set the course of negotiations should MPs dispute the final deal reached by the Prime Minister.
The vote effectively gives MPs the power to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal, or force Mrs May back to the negotiation table.
International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said such a move could lead to the UK being in the EU “indefinitely”.
He said: “The public voted in the referendum, they voted to leave the European Union and the House of Commons passed the legislation to allow that to happen. It is not acceptable for an unelected house to try and block the democratic will of the British people.
“We can’t have a situation where the clearly expressed will of the people in a referendum is thwarted by effectively procedural devices that would keep us in the EU.”
Delaying
Dr Fox said forcing the Prime Minister back to Brussels risks delaying our exit from the EU “indefinitely”.
He added: “I think there is quite a big debate now about whether the unelected house can actually thwart the view of the British electorate and what’s been happening in terms of legislation from the House of Commons.”
Among the Tory rebels is pro-European former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine, whose publishing house Haymarket has helped him amass a personal fortune of £300million.
He also owns 1,255 acres of land in Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire from which he receives an EU subsidy of around £90,000 a year.
Many peers believe Parliament, not ministers, must “determine the future of the country”.
At Monday’s meeting, the Lords approved an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill by 335 votes to 244. It was tabled by Conservative peer Viscount Hailsham, who as an MP was known as Douglas Hogg.
He said that when it came to Brexit, parliamentary sovereignty was “fundamental to our liberties and must not be betrayed”.
But former Tory leader Lord Howard said the idea of effectively giving Parliament a veto over Brexit – which the public voted for in a 2016 referendum – was “misconceived”.
He said: “I’m afraid it reveals the appalling lengths to which the die-hard Remainers are prepared to go to achieve their aims.”
THERESA MAY has promised a “robust” response to the vote in the House of Lords on Monday which was yet another attempt by Remainers to thwart Brexit.
It is however unclear what form that robust response will take. Mrs May finds herself in a difficult situation as the uncertainty over Britain’s position on the customs union continues.
Dr Liam Fox says that no form of customs union “could ever be acceptable” and was equivocal about whether he would resign if the Prime Minister changed course and went for the softest of soft Brexits. “Getting no answer you can draw your own inferences,” he said when pressed on the matter.
Yet for all this, a state of the nation poll finds that there is strong backing for Mrs May with 43 per cent saying she is the right person for the job and 47 per cent agreeing that Britain’s international standing would be higher under her leadership than Jeremy Corbyn’s.
Last year to confirm her own position Theresa May called a general election, a strategy which backfired badly. Some say she is under pressure to do the same this summer in order to bring pro-EU rebels into line.
Said one minister: “With the Remainers becoming so intransigent the Prime Minister may need to call their bluff by going to the country.”
If this is one of the robust responses that Mrs May has in mind it could be a risky tactic. Nobody wants a general election.