In politics you soon learn not to look at what politicians say, but at what they do.
Theresa May said ‘Brexit is Brexit’. But she did not mean it. It wasn’t so much her delay in triggering Article 50 – the Remain crowd on Twitter are wrong about this – every Brexit person in Vote Leave planned to delay Article 50 until Britain was ready with her plan in place. No, rather it was Theresa May’s stated desire to keep freedom of movement, bow the knee to Brussels and accept what the people voted to reject as the price of free trade.
The leaders of Vote Leave know that we do not have to accept free movement as we hold all the negotiating cards. The plan – and yes, there is one – is to repeal the 1972 European Communities act; to withdraw from the Lisbon Treaty, and to regain the supremacy of the two sets of UK law over the ECJ, making it clear that British judges are no longer bound by European law. That is the Brexit plan, and it will be delivered before Article 50 is trigged. Article 50 is not the essential part of freeing us from the EU.
A one-line bill repealing the 1972 Act has already been prepared. But Theresa May intends to scupper that.
May wants us to stay shackled to the EU. She does not have the people with her, but she does have MPs. Specifically, she has Remain MPs, the quotes from whom I shall excerpt at the end of this piece. With the exception of Nicky Morgan, a solid Remain heavyweight, all the major Remain MPs in Parliament have declared for May; and on social media, the leading lights of Remain are mustard keen on her, thinking that she will stifle the people’s will and overturn the Brexit EU Referendum.
The front-runner has traditionally, however, not won the crown. And I believe and hope it will be the same way again. A separate article will explore the two Leave candidates and the one committed ‘People’s Will’ Remainer – Stephen Crabb – and what they have to offer. The absolutely vital thing will be that Brexit’s allies unite to deny Theresa May the leadership – and that the Tory press continue to publish articles about her disastrous spell as Home Secretary, which included her shameful backing for the anti-woman Sharia Law courts.
A word on Mrs. May. In politics, and particularly over Brexit, the greatest issue of our generation, it is vital to fight for what you believe to be true and right. This goes for Remainers and Leavers. It is why appeals to ‘friendship’ and ‘loyalty’ are embarrassing to the point of childishness. I believed that I was and am a loyal supporter of David Cameron and George Osborne, whom I think of as a truly great Prime Minister and Chancellor of historic brilliance. They may not think so, as I threw myself into the Brexit campaign attacking their positions – but never I hope, their character. Theresa May has done wonders for the Conservative party in politics. She was not a good Home Secretary but she has done wonders in other ministerial jobs. She brought women into Parliament, including me, but more to the point, including both Priti Patel and Andrea Leadsom. Theresa May is the mother of she-dragons! As such she deserves respect and gratitude. She is still being berated for her truly correct ‘Nasty Party’ observation. She laid a foundation for a transformed conservative majority under David Cameron and a generation of Thatcher’s daughters in the House.
I am, indeed, deeply concerned with the prospect of her Premiership, but only because I fundamentally believe in Brexit with every cell in my body. I do not want the Tory leadership battle to devolve into attacks on character. But I will attack the politics of Theresa who, as I have argued, puts the ‘May’ in ‘Remain’.
Let’s take a look at who is backing Theresa and how. Chris Grayling – a Leaver, one of the Magnificent Seven. But not one of the loudest Leave voices in the battle we have just fought. There are some true Leave champions with Theresa: David Jones MP and Lucy Allan MP. But more to the point, every one of Remain’s loudest and hardest supporters has flung themselves behind Theresa with a desperation that should sound five alarm fires to any Conservative who wants Brexit.
Mr Clarke said he could be convinced to support Theresa May but urged “cautious” negotiations with Brussels over the EU exit.
Clarke has savaged Michael Gove and Boris Johnson.
Edwina Currie:
The woman who mocked the idea of sovereignty is all in for Theresa May
Anna Soubry:
The most pro-EU sitting MP apart from Ken Clarke, Soubry backs May:
Amber Rudd:
Batted for Remain in the TV debates: ardently for Theresa May
Matt Hancock:
Andrew Griffiths:
John Howell MP (leading Conservatives In) -RTed
Rehman Chisti:
Brandon Lewis:
Alan Duncan:
Conservatives In
Stronger In (hooh boy)
Stronger In’s account shows that Theresa May was not a “Reluctant Remainer” at all. She was full on for Remain since Cameron’s disastrous deal in February, which she defended. The first tweet below dates from February:
These tweets are from April:
Further, May campaigned round the country, contrary to reports:
Now let us look at what Remain’s prominent social media supporters say. They think May will free them from Brexit:
Remain literally hope Theresa will save them:
Media Luvvies and Labour Remainers for Theresa Remain:
Alastair Campbell
John Rentoul:
Dan Hodges:
Hugo Rifkind:
David Aaronovitch:
You rang, David?
David Allen Green:
Finally the odious Christopher Cook makes my point on MPs for me: a picture is worth a thousand words.
Now, once again: in this article I have cited the support for Theresa May of many politicians and journalists who are my friends (I hope they are still my friends). But they are all ardent Remain activists to a man and woman. It is not a criticism of Theresa May or them as people that I invoke, but what David Aaronovitch calls ‘sectarianism’ (he fails to see the irony in his own refusal to accept the result. When Leave stick to their guns it is sectarian, when Remain do it it is courage). Brexit for me is a vital piece of self-determination that a politician ought not to be allowed to thwart. I do not in fact think Theresa May will utterly thwart Brexit – it would be suicide, and she would be unable to command her MPs. Many previously Remain Tory MPs, like Sajid Javid, are now fully committed Brexiters because they do indeed accept the will of the people. Stephen Crabb is another – a Remainer I would trust to Brexit.
Theresa May will, however, give us the least effective version of Brexit, some crap that burdens us while allowing us only a modicum of freedom. On these grounds she must be defeated, and it is up to Gove, Leadsom, Crabb, and Fox, and the two most important kingmakers in Parliament, Sajid Javid and George Osborne, to stop her. Boris Johnson is a wild card. I pray that he remains the people’s champion, fights May and stays true to his word to Britain, whatever his desires for revenge may be. Politics is a long, long game. He may be Prime Minster yet, as may George Osborne, but they must execute the people’s Brexit, and stop Theresa May from shackling a reluctant Britain to the rotting corpse of Jean-Claude Juncker’s EU.