PM works flat out to rally support for her Chequers plan. But how DOES she do it with a diary like this?
A WEEK is a long time in politics, and Theresa May has faced a string of distractions in a frenetic week trying to drum up support for her Brexit plans.
She flew to Northern Ireland, northern England and over to Austria. The PM met a troupe of actors, the Thai cave diving heroes – and a shire horse. Here we detail her hectic schedule:
FRIDAY
WITH her Brexit plans still fresh from the Chequers summit, the PM flew to Ulster. She spent time chatting to teenagers from the Belfast Youth Forum during a visit to an arts centre, facing a half-hour quiz on her election deal with the DUP.
SUNDAY
MRS May and her husband Philip attended their local church near her Maidenhead constituency home.
MONDAY
MONDAY saw the PM drag her ministers up to Gateshead to stage a Cabinet away-day to boost support for her Brexit plan in the North East. She also squeezed in a visit to an engineering firm in Newcastle, Reece Group, before dashing back to London to go to the theatre in the West End. Accompanied by Philip, she met the cast of Pressure at the Ambassadors Theatre, including David Haig who wrote and stars in the D-Day drama.
TUESDAY
ON the day Mrs May announced she was taking personal charge of Brexit, she held a working lunch with the Emir of Qatar, discussing among other things the 2022 World Cup. In the afternoon, she invited some of the British divers who rescued 12 schoolboys from a cave in Thailand to Downing Street for a reception.
WEDNESDAY
MRS May is believed to have worked all day at Downing Street.
THURSDAY
SHE went to Powys for the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, posing for photos with a shire horse named Tumble.
YESTERDAY
THE PM was up early to fly to Austria to hold meetings with her Austrian, Czech and Estonian counterparts.
Last night she capped off her extraordinary week with a visit to the opera at the Salzburg Festival. Chancellor Sebastian Kurz took her to a performance of Mozart’s masterpiece The Magic Flute – the story of a queen who sends an envoy to free a loved one from a foreign community.