Theresa May’s downfall was not due to an inability to present as ‘ touchy feely’
What is the real cause of Prime Minister Theresa May’s early political demise? I can’t wholly go along with Ayesha Hazarika’s view that it is due to a failure to “connect on some human level” or an inability to reach out to other groups ( Perspective, 24 May). These are faults which could easily be levelled at Edward Heath, who took us into Europe less than half a centur y ago, or Margaret Thatcher, who was unable to overcome internal party strife on the matter nearly 30 years ago. The cause of her departure is more easily put down to a failure of negotiating strategy.
With the benefit of that most exact science, hindsight, a number of mistakes a can be identified. The first was to create a Cabinet with a number of different, conflicting roles. Was it really necessary to have a Brexit Secretary, a Foreign Secretary and an International Development Secretary, all with confused remits in the context of withdrawal from the European Union? Much of the negotiation, in any case, is carried out by civil servants, the most senior of which, Olly Robbins, saw his first loyalty to the Prime Minister and not to feuding Cabinet ministers. But he ought to have worked with a good negotiator with Cabinet status while the PM stayed in the background. This question of choreography was seriously botched.
It seems almost incredible that she allowed the question of the Irish border to become the Achilles’ heel of the negotiations when the matter could have been sorted out in a detailed, if tense, negotiation with the Irish government. This had nothing to do with the lack of a “touchy- feely” approach from the Prime Minister. It was lack of foresight, if not insight. The vexed question of the “backstop” really put paid to any chance of getting her backbenchers and the DUP on board. In the end it was tunnel vision that put paid to a reasonably good deal which, with a few crucial amendments, may have avoided the parliamentary hiatus.
BOB TAYLOR Shiel Court, Glenrothes I have no tears for the resignation of Theresa May she was a reactionary Home Secretary and an incompetent Prime Minister. However, she is likely to be replaced by an even worse person, Boris Johnson, who is a charlatan. If the people of Scotland don’t choose independence now, then they never will!
HUGH KERR ( MEP 1994- 99)
Wharton Square Edinburgh
Why be surprised? Her final Withdrawal Agreement Bill was rejected by the Cabinet and i t refused to back her. Theresa May announced it outwith Parliament, raising t he question: was nothing ever discussed and worked through at Cabinet level first? Her modus operandi – or non modus operandi – was her downfall!
Remote, haughty and Maybotic to the end!
JOHN EDGAR Langmuir Quadrant, Kilmaurs
As a female Prime Minister, Theresa May wasn’t the first, but s he was c er t ai nl y t he worst. Whether as the Home Secretary who instigated the Windrush passport scandal or as the Prime Minister of perpetual pratfalls, her lasting legacy will be as one who left others to clear up her messes – right down to the fallout from unnecessar y European elections, with her party’s percentage of the vote in single figures. Local councils and Parliament are left in chaos. Schools have to fundraise for basics in scenes reminiscent of the Victorian period. Let Theresa May’s political epitaph be: “Her party never realised how great a void she really was – until she sucked them and her country into it.’
MARK BOYLE Linn Park Gardens Johnstone, Renfrewshire
For the second time we are to have another PM forced on to us without us being consulted. Once is unfortunate, twice is unacceptable. Given the current state of popularity, the “minority government PM” should be the proper title.
JOHN CUTLAND Montgomery Street, Kirkcaldy