POSTURING PANDERING ...PATHETIC
May demands EU’s respect for failed plan Pounds slumps as risk of no-deal soars
FEEBLE Theresa May lashed out at Brussels yesterday in a desperate bid to keep her job.
The PM stubbornly refused to ditch her Chequers Brexit plan and accused Brussels chiefs of failing to show her “respect” after rejecting it.
She now faces the threat of being knifed by warring MPs at party conference in eight days’ time.
Mrs May struck an angry tone in her speech yesterday and pandered to the hard right by reiterating “no deal is better than a bad deal”.
And she insisted it was up to Brussels to compromise.
She said: “Throughout this process, I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The UK expects the same. At this late stage in negotia- tions, it is not acceptable to simply reject the other side’s proposals without a detailed explanation and counter proposals.”
Her words led the pound to fall by 1.1% against the euro to €1.1133.
It was already down after EU leaders snubbed Mrs May’s plan at Thursday’s disastrous summit in Salzburg.
Leaders said the UK must compromise on trade and the Irish border issue. Last night European Council President Donald Tusk responded to Mrs May’s speech by saying EU chiefs had studied her proposals “in all seriousness” and rejected them after her “surprisingly tough and uncompromising stance”.
But he insisted: “I remain convinced compromise, good
for all, is still possible.” He spoke after MPs from across the political spectrum blasted Mrs May for clinging on to her Chequers plan.
Tory ex-Education Secretary Justine Greening said her approach was now “neither fair, nor sensible”.
Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg praised his boss for being “forthright”, but also urged her to ditch Chequers.
Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn said the PM was “incapable of delivering a good deal”. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon described the speech as “dreadful”.
The UK and EU are trying to hit a deal by November so it can be ratified by their parliaments in time for Brexit on March 29. Both sides want to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic but cannot agree on how to do it.
THERESA May struck a defiant tone yesterday after her humiliation in Salzburg. But this was a piece of posturing by a plastic Margaret Thatcher tribute act.
The synthetic anger at Brussels was meant to cover her failure to sell her Chequers plan and to save her skin ahead of the Tory conference.
She may have brought time but no amount of bombastic language will disguise the fact that her Brexit proposals are going nowhere.
The Prime Minister needs to stop pandering to the Tory right and focus on a Brexit that protects jobs, business and workers’ rights.
Mrs May called for Brussels to show respect. She will earn it when she puts the national interest ahead of the Conservative Party.