Why we’re backing Theresa all the way:

WINSTON CHURCHILL famously said that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter. As a heavy drinking depressive who never minced his words, the wartime prime minister would probably never be elected today in the age of TV debates, Mumsnet forums and Twitter.

For if we have learned anything from the past four weeks then it is that populism now trumps principles when it comes to grabbing votes.

Those who have prospered on the campaign trail are the ones who tell the voters what they want to hear, rather than what they need to.

And so this weekend we find ourselves in an extraordinary position, with the once unthinkable prospect of Jeremy Corbyn becoming prime minister appearing to be more than a mere possibility.

Some polls are putting the Tories just three per cent ahead of Labour, with others predicting Theresa May will lose seats and we’ll end up with a hung parliament.

While polls are notoriously unreliable – just look at what happened with the EU referendum and US election – make no mistake, Britain has never faced such a stark choice at the ballot box.

The electorate used to complain that politicians were all the same, peddling lies, breaking promises and refusing to answer a straight question with a straight answer but in Mr Corbyn we have someone truly unprecedented in his unsuitability to lead this great nation of ours.

Consider for a minute what giving this neo-Communist the keys to Number 10 would do, not only for you and your family but also for post-Brexit Britain.

All we have heard from Labour during this election campaign is one pie in the sky promise after another – all seemingly to be paid for with cash from the magical money tree. From capping rail fares, to offering earlier retirement and free childcare, Mr Corbyn’s lavish list of pledges is pegged to pounds we haven’t got.

And in a cynical ploy to attract the idealist youth of today, he has not only vowed to scrap tuition fees but also write-off student debt.

YET AS with all of Mr Corbyn’s backof-a-fag-packet policies, the only way he plans to pay for it is through taxing the hard-working people of this country, and bankrupting their children. With the national debt at £1.7trillion, on top of a budget deficit of £50billion, not to mention the Brexit negotiations looming, there has never been a worse time for more spending, more taxation and more borrowing.

There’s a good reason why sterling slumps and the stock market panics at the idea of Prime Minister Corbyn: the election of an economic illiterate will send us back to the darkest days of Gordon Brown’s gold-flogging boom-and-bust premiership.

Mr Corbyn’s swingeing taxes on business, income, wealth and land will stifle growth, depress wages and cost jobs.

Populist policies are, by their very nature, popular but when his cheques inevitably start bouncing, Britain is going to end up paying a very heavy price.

Along with his Marxist and mathematically-challenged chums John McDonnell and Diane Abbott, we have a triumvirate of ineptitude, the election of whom would not only question Britain’s judgment but also its sanity.

Take their stance on terror. Having spent years cosying up to their “friends” in the IRA, Hezbollah and Hamas, the Labour leadership believes the blame for terrorism lies not with those wearing balaclavas, wielding AK47s and blowing themselves up, but with British foreign policy.

In a bid to appease the ban-the-bomb brigade, Mr Corbyn pretends he is all about promoting world peace when, in fact, his real motivation is shoring up a hard-left fanbase ideologically wedded to the armament ideals of a bygone era.

Mr Corbyn insists that he “loves Britain” but remember what his comrade McDonnell said about “bullets and bombs” uniting Ireland?

Never forget his former lover, wannabe home secretary Abbott’s famous quote: “Every defeat of the British state is a victory for all of us. A defeat in Northern Ireland

‘Labour’s makebelieve manifesto has been designed to hoodwink the public... we have just five days to protect Britain from the worst possible outcome’

would be a defeat indeed.” And what about prospective foreign secretary Emily Thornberry’s sneering reaction to that St George’s flag? These are the people proposing to represent the UK on the world stage.

They might want to scrap Trident, Britain’s nuclear deterrent, but instead they want to wage war on the Western values at the heart of British democracy.

Forget the Recorbynaissance – Labour’s make-believe manifesto has been designed to hoodwink the public and once they’re in there’ll be no turning back.

We have just five days to protect Britain from the worst possible outcome.

There is a great irony in Compo Corbyn’s “man of the people” act. With his laid-back style and jokey manner, he has the pretence of being an “honest” politician when, in reality, he is anything but.

Theresa May may not be as likeable. She may not be the kind of politician you want to have a pint with. But she has something Mr Corbyn distinctly lacks: integrity.

How long have we been calling for honest politicians? In making unpopular pledges in the Conservative manifesto, rather than producing a fantastical work of fiction, Mrs May has proved that she really does want to put our country before her own approval rating. Her opponents called her “weak and wobbly” over the so-called social care “U-turn” but actually it shows real leadership to listen to the public and adapt your policies because it is the right thing to do, regardless of the media furore it may cause.

Changing your mind on the advice of others is a sign of strength and stability, not least compared to an opponent who doesn’t appear to have altered his opinions since the 1970s.

Mrs May should be commended for trying to reach out to younger generations instead of simply playing to the older Conservative crowd, many of whom will privately admit that only the poor should be entitled to handouts such as the winter fuel allowance and free school meals.

Conversely, Labour continues to speak only to itself, offering short-term, knee-jerk fixes rather than long-term solutions.

THEY love to label the Tories “nasty” but the Labour Party has more than earned that title, having been plagued with claims of anti-Semitism and misogyny, perpetrated by its own misguided MPs, members and supporters. Labour has deployed classic rent-a-mob tactics not seen since the fall of the Iron Curtain.

There have been threats that Mr Corbyn will join a “coalition of chaos” with minority parties if he cannot win an outright majority but since the Labour leader can barely get his own party to agree with him, what hope is there for his political rivals?

He is willing to enter into backroom deals with the Liberal Democrats, even though they want a second EU referendum.

He is willing to work with the SNP, even though they want a second referendum on Scottish independence.

He will accept Plaid Cymru’s support, even though they want Welsh independence.

Remember, none of these parties want to curb immigration. In fact, Mr Corbyn himself has admitted that he won’t make control of Britain’s borders a priority and there’s a possibility that migration will increase should he gain power.

So be in no doubt whatsoever: a vote for Labour is a vote for breaking up the union.

Labour is even willing to do a deal with the Greens, despite their plan to cripple the economy by introducing a four-day week and paying people wages even when they are not in work.

What a way to reverse our historically low unemployment rates and successful welfare reforms.

It is also important to remember the undue influence of the unions on Labour. Will it really be Mr Corbyn running the party or Unite boss Len McCluskey?

And then, of course, there’s the European question...

Having campaigned for Britain to leave the EU, this newspaper acutely understands that there is only one way to guarantee the best Brexit deal possible and that is to vote Conservative.

The alternative is to allow Mr Corbyn and his confused cohort to ride roughshod over a democratic process that saw 52 per cent of the population vote to leave the Brussels bloc.

With the negotiations starting just 11 days after polling day, there is only one party

leader who will guarantee that the will of the people is exercised – and that person is Theresa May.

The Conservative leader has staked her own job and those of her ministers on securing a direct mandate for her plan to deliver what 17 million Britons voted for.

She hopes that by securing a resounding majority it will remove any motive for the EU negotiators to make the UK’s Brexit terms as unpalatable as possible so that UK voters find

‘Mrs May has shown real leadership and proved she really does want to put our country first’

the terms of Brexit too painful to accept. But if May wins a large Commons majority, the hope that Britain will change its mind will be dashed for ever. There is no going back, despite EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s delusional outbursts, and the only person with a proper vision for Britain moving forward is Mrs May.

By declaring that no deal is better than a bad deal, the Prime Minister, a woman with a proven track record as a tough negotiator having orchestrated the extradition of hate preacher Abu Qatada, has already proved she is not for turning. She’s a bloody difficult woman, and proud of it.

If you are going to ask yourself one question on June 8, then ask yourself this: do you really want to place your future in the hands of a man who doesn’t believe in the UK and everything it stands for?

A vote for Theresa May on Thursday isn’t just a vote for a better Brexit, but a better Britain.