Comment Tories don’t want leadership election
languishing in an Iranian jail for five years. But it’s not just that he said the wrong thing.
He then appeared before the House of Commons and brazenly pretended it hadn’t happened.
Meanwhile, Priti Patel went freelance in her role as International Development Secretary, holding a meeting with the Prime Minister of Israel which had not been approved by Number 10.
While there’s some confusion about when exactly Theresa May was told, it does appear that the Prime Minister was in the dark until after the meeting took place. But that’s only part of it. Claims of sexual harassment and assaults have been made against both major parties. But only the Conservatives have seen two front-benchers resign - former Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and former whip Christopher Pincher.
Many MPs have mixed feelings about the abuse scandal.
There’s a view that genuinely shocking behaviour has been lumped in with minor indiscretions, and that some people have been accused who did nothing wrong.
But fairly or not, it’s made the Tories look sleazy. Many Conservatives were furious when Mrs May replaced Mr Fallon with Gavin Williamson, her former Chief Whip.
He’s not popular. Some feel he used his Chief Whip role to further his own career and undermine colleagues who annoyed him.
In the House of Commons, Conservatives have been reduced to abstaining on some Commons votes - to hide the fact that they’d probably lose anyway.
This, and the policy of ignoring motions approved by the Commons, has upset some Tories.
Veteran MP Sir Edward Leigh has complained: “The road to tyranny is paved by executives ignoring parliaments.”
A flagship welfare reform, Universal Credit, has been widely condemned for driving people into debt.
Charity the Trussell Trust has warned “Universal Credit is inadvertently leaving people without any money for six or more weeks, leading to debt, rental arrears, and poor mental health”.
Meanwhile, progress on Brexit negotiations has been slow.
CBI Director-General Carolyn Fairbairn this week called for “urgent action” to agree a transition deal, saying: “Every opportunity must be taken to reduce uncertainty for the sake of jobs and the economy.”
We can only guess whether things would be any better if Labour was in power. But they’re not looking good under the Tories. So must Theresa May resign? The answer is no. As long as her own MPs don’t force her out, and as long as the deal with the DUP remains - giving the Government a Commons majority for key legislation - she can stay.
The failure of an attempt by Tory MP Grant Shapps to force Mrs May to resign suggested Conservative MPs don’t want a leadership election right now.
Even the chaos of the past couple of weeks hasn’t changed that view.
One Conservative said: “She needs to collect all the crap that’s being thrown at her. “That’s her job.” The hope is that Mrs May will leave at some point after Brexit - taking the crap with her - allowing someone else to lead the party into an election, which could be held around 2020.