Theresa is not natty, but she’s our best bet
ANYONE who has caught a glimpse of the news since Christmas will think this Government is only interested in two things: Brexit and who leads the Conservative Party.
It feels as if whatever we try to do, everything is viewed through the prism of how we leave the European Union and whether Theresa May is up or down.
To be fair, we don’t help ourselves. If I had a pound for every flappy-mouthed ‘friend’ of him or ‘source close to’ her who’s given me a headache this past month, I’d probably be on my way to matching the football Premier League’s record-breaking January transfer window.
But look beyond the wall of sound created by unnamed colleagues blabbing away, and there is plenty this Government is doing for voters.
We’ve got unemployment down to a 40-year low, the highest number in real jobs since 1975; we’ve increased the National Living Wage and cut income tax to put extra cash in your pay packets; we’ve put a further £2.8 billion into our NHS, £1.3 billion for schools and cut stamp duty for 95 per cent of first-time buyers. And in December, the Prime Minister achieved something that many of the sneerers and doommongerers thought would never happen – she and the EU agreed sufficient progress had been made in the first round of our Brexit talks.
Leadership isn’t about soaking up the glory when things are easy. It’s about picking up the mantle after a national debate that divided the nation.
It’s calmly and carefully planning for the future of the UK outside the European Union. And it’s grafting to deliver the crucial progress every step of the way.
Whether you voted Leave or Remain, we can all agree that Brexit is going to change this country. Theresa May has set out her plan to overcome the challenges and grasp the opportunities that Brexit provides. Getting on with this huge job – that’s leadership. So when you see some commentator telling the Prime Minister she should do this or say that, just remember what she has on her plate and the successes she has already achieved.
Triggering Article 50, setting out a plan for the future, successfully negotiating with Parliament and the 27 other nations to complete the first half of the Brexit deal. And through all this, never losing sight of the promise she made on the steps of Downing Street to get things done at home and build a stronger economy and fairer society for everyone.
We have the right person in charge to keep up this work and focus on the job in hand, as we build that country that truly works for everyone.
She might not have the natty chant or the online warriors, but this is a Prime Minister who will never stop fighting for you or this country she loves. And I am proud to stand alongside her in that fight.