Theresa May’s Home Office branded ‘reckless’ by review into Windrush scandal
From the Daily Mirror: Theresa May‘s Home Office has been branded “reckless” by an official review into the Windrush Scandal.
Tag: Theresa May
Theresa May
Tory MP for: Maidenhead (Berkshire, SE England)
First elected: 1997
2017 majority over Labour: 26,457 (45.5%)
Seat at-risk ranking: 309th (out of 317 Tory MPs)
Government posts:
- Prime Minister (July 2016-present)
- Home Secretary (May 2010-July 2016)
[Wikipedia article on Theresa May]
[Wikipedia article on Maidenhead constituency]
Theresa May suffers major blow as DUP refuses to back Brexit deal
From HuffPost UK: Theresa May’s hopes of winning DUP support for her Brexit deal have been dealt a blow after the party demanded significant changes – which the EU is already refusing to allow.
After two days of talks with the prime minister and other senior government figures, the DUP on Thursday revealed it will still refuse to back the deal in its current form.
Theresa May made getting DUP support an absolute priority after delaying the Commons vote on the Brexit deal last month in the face of almost certain defeat. She was hoping their backing could start a domino effect to win over scores of Tory opponents.
Ministers: May’s plan for three-year spending review is a fantasy
From The Guardian: Theresa May’s waning authority means the idea of concluding a three-year spending review next year is a fantasy and is only likely to be achieved if she were replaced as leader, cabinet ministers have said.
The government has promised a full spending review in 2019 as part of a pledge to end austerity in the coming years, but senior figures say May will struggle to get the plan signed off.
The review has become the subject of speculation in Whitehall given the prime minister’s pledge to step down before the next election and the unpredictable state of the Brexit negotiations.
“The idea that the cabinet is going to accept a three-year spending review is fantasy,” one government source said. “Most of them won’t even do a three-minute broadcast clip at the moment. Departments are starting to get their houses in order for a one-year sticking plaster settlement.”
Others are opposed to the idea of a one-year plan. They describe it as “kicking the can”, and believe May should instead consider quitting before the spending review to let a new leader set the direction of the party.
“She cannot be allowed to set those terms herself,” one cabinet minister said.
Theresa May confirms she will not lead Tories into next election
From The Guardian: Theresa May confirmed she will not lead the Conservatives into the next general election as she arrived in Brussels to rescue her Brexit deal.
She refused to give a date for her departure from Downing Street, but made public her promise to MPs ahead of Wednesday’s no-confidence vote that she would quit before the next poll in 2022.
“Yes, I’ve said that in my heart I would love to be able to lead the Conservative party into the next general election, but I think it is right that the party feels it would prefer to go into that election with a new leader,” May said. “People try to talk about dates; what I’m clear about is the next general election is in 2022 and I think it’s right another party leader takes us into that general election.”
The prime minister survived by a margin of 200 votes to 117 in the party confidence vote, but is still facing calls to resign from senior figures on her backbenches, including Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Corbyn exposes May’s hypocrisy over withholding Brexit legal advice
From the Morning Star: Jeremy Corbyn exposed Theresa May’s hypocrisy in her withholding of Brexit legal advice yesterday by surprising her with a letter she had sent to the last Labour government that demanded they publish the legal advice they had received over the Iraq War.
During Prime Minister’s Questions the Labour leader urged the PM to reveal to MPs the “warts and all” legal advice on her unpopular Brexit deal so that they can make an informed decision over whether to let it pass through parliament on December 11.
He said she should “practise what she preached” and told MPs that she, as shadow leader of the Commons, had written to the then PM Gordon Brown in 2007 to demand the legal advice on invading Iraq.
Theresa May lies on LBC about accusing police of “crying wolf”
From Momentum: Video evidence that Theresa May lied on LBC radio about her past “crying wolf” dismissal of the impact of Tory police cuts.
Theresa May’s flagship policy to solve housing crisis will deliver no new homes in half of England
From The Independent: Theresa May’s flagship policy for sparking a revival in council housebuilding will not deliver a single new home in more than half of the local authorities in England.
Theresa May refuses to guarantee medicine supply under ‘no-deal’ Brexit
From Sky News: Theresa May has refused to guarantee that the NHS will have enough medicines in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
The prime minister insisted she was working for a “good” divorce with the EU and that the government was making “responsible contingency decisions”.
But she refused to be drawn on reports that warehouses are being sought to stockpile six weeks of medicines in if talks with Brussels fail.
Oxford economist accuses Theresa May of ‘lying’ when she quoted him during PMQs
From The Independent: A leading economist has accused Theresa May of “lying” during Prime Minister’s Questions, claiming she deliberately misquoted him.
“It’s a shitshow”: leading Tory backbench MP on May’s government
From The Guardian: A leading Conservative backbencher has laid bare the extent of Tory frustrations with Theresa May by openly admitting he would not vote for the party if he wasn’t an MP, and had no interest in becoming a minister in a government he called “a shitshow”.
Johnny Mercer, who has represented Plymouth Moor View since 2015, said in an interview that in the current political situation there was “absolutely no chance” he would try to enter parliament, and intimated that May was an unimaginative “technocrat”.
Speaking to the House magazine – which last month ran an interview with Karen Bradley in which the new Northern Ireland secretary admitted knowing almost nothing about the region’s politics before she took the job – Mercer expressed deep disillusionment with modern Conservatism.
The former soldier was asked how the pre-politics version of himself would vote now. Mercer, who left the army in 2012, replied: “I wouldn’t go and vote. Just being honest, I wouldn’t vote. Of course I wouldn’t, no.”
Asked whether he would join the Conservatives, Mercer said: “If the situation was like it is now, I can safely say there would be absolutely no chance that I would try and be a member of parliament.”
Mercer, one of the more publicly prominent – and self-confident – members of the newer intake of Tory MPs, also indicated he had turned down a role in government and could never serve under May.
Theresa May’s boast that she’s ended austerity exposed as a sham by experts
From Daily Mirror: Theresa May’s boast that she has ended austerity is a sham, experts have warned.
PM refuses to scrap work capability assessments despite link to suicides
From Welfare Weekly: Theresa May has refused to scrap her government’s controversial Work Capability Assessments, despite reports almost one in two women taking part in the assessments say they have attempted suicide before or after the process.
Ian Blackford, Commons leader of the SNP, congratulated the Prime Minister on her appointment of a Minister for Suicide Prevention, but said if the Prime Minister was serious about the issue, she would eradicate polices that lead people to believe suicide is their only option.
A series of secret internal inquiries into the deaths of people claiming social security revealed that UK government ministers were repeatedly warned of shortcomings of their social security policies.
Nearly one in every two women (47%) claiming incapacity benefits and undergoing the WCA have attempted suicide.
Theresa May fails to acknowledge responsibility for devastation caused to Windrush Generation citizens
Via the Labour Party: Theresa May waffles on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, instead of accepting responsibility for lives being turned upside down by the Windrush scandal she personally caused with her policies while Home Secretary.
BBC | Andrew Marr Show | This Should Never Have Happened
Shameful that the Prime Minister either doesn’t know or doesn’t care how many people from the Windrush generation lost their homes, their jobs, and were denied NHS treatment.Theresa May's hostile environment policy is a disgrace and Labour will scrap it.
Posted by Jeremy Corbyn on Sunday, September 30, 2018
Theresa May waffles when asked if she agreed with Thatcher that Nelson Mandela was a “terrorist”
Video from Channel 4 News: Theresa May went to Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was imprisoned. In this clip it’s clear she did nothing whatsoever at the time to call for his release, and Maybot waffles hard to avoid answering whether she agreed with her party leader Margaret Thatcher that Mandela was a “terrorist”.
Theresa May questioned by Michael Crick about her stance on apartheid during the 70s and 80s
"Mrs Thatcher believed that Nelson Mandela was a terrorist…Did you think the same thing?"Theresa May is questioned by Michael Crick about her stance on apartheid ahead of her visit to Robben Island, where Mandela was imprisoned.
Posted by Channel 4 News on Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Theresa May displays her dancing “skills” in South Africa
Video from ITV News: Theresa May, er, joins in with the dancing during a visit to a South African school.
Theresa May dances with schoolchildren in South Africa
Moves like… May 💃🕺 Theresa May shows off her dancing skills on a visit to a school in South Africa. Read more: https://bit.ly/2PItH7F
Posted by ITV News on Tuesday, August 28, 2018
May under pressure over Andrew Griffiths bullying allegations
From The Guardian: Theresa May is under pressure to explain whether she knew about allegations of “extreme bullying” against the disgraced former minister Andrew Griffiths when she promoted him to government within days of becoming prime minister.
Griffiths, the prime minister’s former chief of staff who was forced to resign as a minister for sending hundreds of sexually explicit messages to two women, had been accused of bullying a council leader for several years when May took office in July 2016.
The complaints are understood to include claims that the Tory MP sent abusive text messages to Richard Grosvenor, the leader of the Tory-run East Staffordshire borough council.
Despite the complaint being acknowledged by Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) in emails up to January 2016, Grosvenor said his allegations were never properly investigated.
Six months later, in July 2016, Griffiths was appointed lord commissioner of the Treasury and senior government whip in May’s first government.
Donald Trump and Theresa May hold hands again
From The Independent: Donald Trump and Theresa May have held hands once again, during the president’s visit to the UK.
Responsibility for Windrush deportations rests “squarely on Theresa May’s shoulders” – Caroline Lucas
From Morning Star: Responsibility for the Windrush scandal falls “squarely on the shoulders” of Theresa May for ignoring a report warning her what would happen, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas charged yesterday.
The Brighton Pavilion MP had tabled a written question asking if Ms May, as home secretary, had acted on the Legal Action Group’s prescient October 2014 report Chasing Status.
Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes responded: ”No specific action was taken as a result of this report.”
The report recommended a number of measures which could have prevented the Windrush scandal, including to set up a special unit to fast-track cases of people living in Britain on January 1 1973.
It also called for the restoration of legal aid for these cases, allowing Commonwealth-born citizens to work, access the the NHS and claim benefits and for Home Office proof of residence standards to be revised.
Another of the report’s recommendations was for “greater openness” from the Home Office about its archiving and destruction policies, and for it to accept that some immigration records could be rendered inaccurate or incomplete over time.
Theresa May holds up Belgium football shirt in PR gaffe on day of England’s World Cup match
From the Guardian: At the start of a summit of EU leaders in Brussels, the British prime minister was ambushed by the Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, who presented her with a Belgian football team top ahead of the England v Belgium World Cup game.
Theresa May held up the strip, before realising that doing so might be a PR gaffe, and appeared to attempt to hide it away. Unfortunately her fellow leaders pointed to the TV monitors showing her reaction live to a packed hall of reporters.
While Jeremy Corbyn was meeting Grenfell survivors, Theresa May dined with bankers
From Evolve Politics: A silent procession of thousands – police estimate 5,000 – marched solemnly in solidarity with the victims and survivors of the Grenfell disaster.
However, whilst Jeremy Corbyn attended and marched alongside the people – and as the Labour leader told reporters how the fire represented all the injustice and inequality in this country –Theresa May had already snuck away early in order to ‘woo’ super-rich bankers at an extravagant European financial services banquet.
There, while those at Grenfell grieved, May spoke to European finance bosses about how Government plans to remove doctors and nurses from the visa regime would open the way for banks to hire professionals from outside the European Economic Area.