Iron May trumps ...but voters Corbyn in facing warn: Don't down Kremlin... snub MPs

IN HER resolute performance at a No10 press conference yesterday on the Syrian bombing raids, Theresa May was asked by The Mail on Sunday if her decision had given her sleepless nights.

She said: ‘There is no graver decision that a Prime Minister can take than to send service personnel into combat.

‘It is a decision that I have not taken lightly.’

She was similarly at ease fielding political questions over why she had not sought Parliament’s support and whether she would approve more raids.

In short, she was back to her old strong and stable self. We have been here before. Tuesday marks the first anniversary of Mrs May’s shock decision to call a snap Election in a bid to use her ‘strong and stable’ image to crush Jeremy Corbyn.

At the time it looked a strong certainty: her ratings were a staggering 39 points ahead of the Labour leader’s.

Instead a series of own goals left her looking weak and unstable. She lost the Tories’ Commons majority and, incredibly, in less than two months Corbyn’s popularity overtook hers.

For most of the past 12 months she has bumped along a few points ahead of the Opposition leader. But that changed on March 4, the day the Russians tried to murder the Skripals in Salisbury.

Her lead doubled to 13 points as she responded robustly to the scandal. Meanwhile, Corbyn’s bubble burst as he was accused of siding with Vladimir Putin and faced toxic allegations of Labour anti-Semitism.

For much of the time since the botched Election Mrs May has seemed cowed: she had taken the only big risk in her life and it had blown up in her face.

But all that was forgotten as she strode the world stage, winning support for her one-woman, Iron Lady-style defiance of the Kremlin – even from the Brexit bruised EU.

It was that renewed confidence that gave her the strength to ignore calls – not just from Corbyn but from heavyweight figures in her own party such as Ken Clarke – to back bombing raids on Syria without a vote in Parliament.

Tory whips warned her the Commons may well have voted against her, putting her in an impossible position.

Of course, if she hadn’t called a snap Election a year ago, she would have had a big Tory majority and won the vote easily, giving her the best of both worlds.

If the bombing raids are seen as a success, strong and stable Theresa will get the credit.

If not, she could fall behind Corbyn again.