The PM has racked up yet more failures

IN a recent letter (The Herald, January 11) I argued that the Prime Minister has found “her postelection political authority so critically, indeed strategically undermined that ‘lame-duck’ is her current default power status”. However since then her political status has declined even further with a series of gross governance and leadership failures.

There has been the ailure to anticipate and deal with the horrendous collapse of Carillion with its 30,000 sub-contractors should force resignations.

With ministers running around trying to cope with the chaos of Brexit, Carillion’s descent into disaster was ignored with no cabinet diligence and no attempt at mediation.

Then there is the utter embarrassment over the President Trump visit, instigated initially and unwisely by Theresa May and rudely aborted by Donald Trump with all kinds of serious implications.

These incredible failures of effective governance are all played out against the continuing uncertainty of a Brexit campaign that daily stutters and stumbles towards some dire form of economic calamity.

I suspect more crises will follow and in the spirit of Burns season, “An forward though I cannie, see I guess and fear”.

Thom Cross,

18 Needle Green,

Carluke.

REGARDING the Carillion saga, two TV interviews told the story. A spokesman told us that the Government will not make funds available for Carillion, that it would not be right to use taxpayers ‘money to assist the banks and shareholders. Meanwhile the owner of a sub-contractors who has £1million of Carillion bills unpaid (and never likely to be) told us that his hitherto-profitable company has overnight become insolvent and will be forced out of business. His reason for continuing to supply Carillion despite his unease? The Government was continuing to hand out contracts to it so everything must have been fine – after all, the Government would check, wouldn’t it? I care not at all about the banks; and little about the shareholders, even if they are mainly big pension funds. But why cannot thousands of subbies who did work for the Government, and were misled into thinking they would be OK, be reimbursed – even if that’s not the norm?

Scott Macintosh,

4 Alder Crescent,

Killearn.