German anger as May warns: ‘We won’t wait for EU’
14 MoS journalists up for awards at Press ‘Oscars’
MAIL on Sunday journalists have an amazing 14 nominations in the Press Awards – the Oscars of journalism.
Topping the list are no fewer than four of our brilliant columnists – Peter Hitchens, Rachel Johnson, Oliver Holt and Dan Hodges – who have each been shortlisted as Columnist or Political Commentator of the Year. Political Editor Simon Walters is nominated as Political Journalist for his articles exposing scandals in Westminster.
Stephen Adams is THERESA MAY used a major speech yesterday to vow to take back ‘full control’ of the UK’s foreign policy immediately after Brexit – only to be greeted with mockery by her German audience.
The Prime Minister delighted the anti-Brussels wing of the Tory Party by telling a security conference in Munich that the UK would not wait until the end of any transition period to leave the EU’s common foreign and security policy.
Mrs May said: ‘We shouldn’t wait where we don’t need to’.
For the Brexiteers this would mark a powerfully symbolic break with the Maastricht Treaty of 1992, which started the process of developing common EU foreign policies.
She also pleased the hard Brexit camp by arguing that our departure from the EU was a chance to ‘reinvigorate’ the trans-Atlantic alliance between London and Washington.
But Mrs May’ s stance annoyed some delegates at the conference.
After she had finished speaking, the host, Wolfgang Ischinger, a former German Ambassador to London, was greeted with loud applause when he told Mrs May: ‘Things would be so much easier if you nominated as Health Journalist for a penetrating series about the NHS, Ian Birrell is on the shortlist as Feature Writer and David Rose as News Reporter.
Event writer Cole Moreton and TV critic Deborah Ross are shortlisted as Interviewer and Critic of the stayed [in the EU].’ Mrs May, looking irritated, responded by ruling out a second referendum on Brexit.
A delegate then stood up to tell Mrs May that it would ‘not be a matter of national shame’ if she did call a second poll on leaving the EU.
The foreign policy vow comes just days before a crunch Cabinet meeting at Chequers, when Mrs May will try to heal the rift in her senior ministerial team between the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ Brexiteers. Thursday’s all-day meeting is being held to agree a unified position on the Government’s Brexit demands.
Supporters of Chancellor Philip Hammond, the leading Cabinet advocate for maintaining close links with Brussels, believe Mrs May is ‘tacking towards’ the ‘hard’ Brexit camp – because she fears being top- Year. Charlotte Wace, a graduate of our trainee scheme, is nominated as Young Journalist.
Mail Sport’s Sam Cunningham, Matt Lawton and Andy Hooper, whose pled as leader if they turn against her. Other pro-Remain MPs hope that Mrs May is throwing ‘red meat’ to the Brexiteers to keep them onside.
The Munich speech was one of six being given by Mrs May and her senior Cabinet Ministers over the next fortnight, before the UK presents its Brexit demands to the EU at a Brussels summit next month.
Foreign Secretary Boris work also appears in the Daily Mail, are nominated for the Sports Journalist and Sports Photographer awards.
The Press Awards will be presented by the Society of Editors with support to the Journalists Charity at a gala dinner at the London Hilton on March 13. Johnson started the so-called ‘road map to Brexit’ speeches with a poorly received address on Wednesday in which he called for greater divergence from EU rule-making.
The only ‘soft’ Brexiteer giving a speech is Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington. One ally of the Chancellor said: ‘May has decided that Boris and the Brexiteers pose a greater risk to her political survival t han t he Remain camp. But she needs to be careful – Philip will not stand for being humiliated’.
In her speech, Mrs May argued for a deal that would allow the UK and the EU to ‘agree distinct arrangements for our foreign and defence policy co-operation’.
Mrs May also offered an olive branch to the EU over the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, saying that the UK would ‘ respect i ts remit’ when co-operating with EU agencies.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, the head of the pro-hard Brexit group of Tory MPs, welcomed Mrs May’s pledge to pull out of the common foreign policy. He said: ‘This decision normalises our relationship as one between sovereign states akin to those we have with our other allies.’