Theresa is toast if she doesn’t start listening

IF THERESA MAY is big enough to admit her mistakes and put a kinder Conservatism into the heart of her Government, she may survive, reunite our broken country and deliver a considerably better Brexit deal.

The macho hard talk; the petty personal pursuit of trashing everything Cameron and Osborne achieved (including winning key marginal seats like mine to deliver a Conservative majority just two years ago); the rejection of traditional Conservative economics; and a refusal to embrace those that voted Remain (especially the young) have been Mrs May’s undoing. Theresa must recognise that parts of our society have totally rejected her style of leadership, her manifesto and, most importantly, any hard Brexit.

As I predicted, young people who overwhelmingly didn’t want Brexit have turned out in their droves and exacted revenge on a generation of Leavers who they believe stole their future while enjoying generous pensions as they denied them the first rung on the property ladder. For many months I’ve been knocking on doors in Broxtowe. It’s clear the vast majority of my constituents want us to get on with Brexit. But there was also widespread concern at Mrs May’s inflexible ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ attitude, with few wanting the hard Brexit that she refused to rule out.

I made my position clear to the people of Broxtowe: that I would continue to make the case for the single market. The loss of the General Election, because that is what it was for Theresa May, means she must now listen to all parts of the Conservative Party and country.

Now her not-so-special advisers have gone, she must work with all members of her Cabinet and listen to her twin wise owls, the Chancellor Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Greg Clark.

If she refuses, she’s toast.