May aims for divided Tory Party to unite
BIRMINGHAM: Prime Minister Theresa May was to urge her fractured Conservative Party yesterday to unite behind “decent, moderate and patriotic” policies, a day after her rival Boris Johnson trashed her Brexit plan and challenged her authority with a crowd-pleasing speech of his own.
Ms May is ending the governing Conservatives’ annual conference with a call for the party to show that it “delivers on the issues (voters) care about and is comfortable with modern Britain in all its diversity”.
The four-day conference has been dominated by divisions over Britain’s impending departure from the European Union, with pro- and anti-EU camps both criticising the prime minister’s negotiations with the bloc.
Just six months before Britain leaves on March 29, negotiations with the EU have ground to a halt and Ms May is caught between Brexiteers like Mr Johnson and those who want to keep close economic ties with the bloc, Britain’s biggest trading partner.
Mr Johnson, who quit as foreign secretary in July, drew cheers from 1,500 delegates on Tuesday when he called Ms May’s proposal for close post-Brexit economic ties an “outrage” that would leave Britain manacled to the EU and unable to strike new trade deals around the world.
Ms May acknowledged that Mr Johnson’s speech had made her “cross” but said she was sticking to her Brexit blueprint, which would keep Britain aligned to many EU rules in return for remaining in the bloc’s single market for goods.
She argues that her plan is the only way to avoid customs checks along the currently invisible border between the UK’s Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland — a development that would be troublesome for residents and businesses on both sides.
But the EU is demanding new proposals from Britain before it signs a deal — and many Conservatives are in no mood to compromise.
Ms May has had a tough year since a disastrous 2017 conference speech, when she was her plagued by a cough and interrupted by a prankster while parts of the backdrop fell down as she was speaking.
In her address, Ms May was to try to paint an optimistic picture of post-Brexit Britain, saying “I passionately believe that our best days lie ahead of us and that our future is full of promise,” according to her 10 Downing St office.
Her own future is full of uncertainty. Mr Johnson’s speech was a leadership pitch in all but name, and many Conservatives expect Ms May to face a party coup soon after Brexit day — or even before, if there is no progress toward a deal.
Conservative lawmaker James Duddridge yesterday called the Brexit negotiations “an absolute disaster” and said Mr Johnson’s speech had been “inspirational”.
“We need a strong leader and we haven’t got that at the moment,” Mr Duddridge told the BBC.
“My support for her is wearing thin to the point of being invisible.”