May heads for disaster

IF ever an election win was undeserved, it is this one when Theresa May was found out and the Conservative Party ran the worst campaign in recent history.

Jeremy Corbyn surprisingly fought the better battle. Labour’s manifesto fizzed with good policies yet, according to late opinion polls and early results, Tory smears and scaremongering did the trick for a diminished Prime Minister. Counting seats cannot restore May’s authority, her spell broken after she uniquely broke promises before votes were cast – frequently looking frightened of the public. We are afraid, very afraid, for the future of the country. On the table in Brexit negotiations are our jobs and livelihoods, and the heads of the European Union’s other 27 states will have spotted May’s feebleness under pressure. In Northern Ireland, the Brexit question has even greater significance as the border with the Republic and whether it remains soft or not has yet to be answered. What will our MPS have to say about austerity and how it affects local voters? The fight back starts now to protect wages and living standards, schools and hospitals. The Tories lost the big arguments. They have no mandate to ruin public services or destroy cherished freedoms. Parliamentary arithmetic isn’t a free pass to impose an elective dictatorship. We waken today to see what deals need to be done and whether Northern Ireland parties will indeed have a crucial role to play.