THIS has been the Prime Minister’s most dizzying period of switchback politics since she entered 10 Downing Street. She earned Brownie points for her decision to support the air attacks on Syria, without consulting Parliament. Even a sizeable number of Labour MPs agreed with her that if action was to be taken, it had to be taken swiftly.
Jeremy Corbyn was not among those supporters, however, indicating that a Labour Government would probably introduce a new law to ensure Parliament is consulted before acts of aggression are embarked upon. It is beginning to look as though Corbyn is losing the trust of large swathes of the Parliamentary Labour Party. But his grip on party leadership is as firm as ever, and he is in no mood to let go.
And for the Prime Minister, things started to go swiftly downhill after that. The blame for the Windrush affair which, it is claimed, has ripped families apart and led to many innocent people being deported, has been laid squarely at the door of the Prime Minister who, when Home Secretary, was accused of ordering the Home Office to destroy documents which would have proved that many of these people were not illegal immigrants.
Mrs May said those orders were given, not by her, but by a previous Labour Government in 2009. Labour have fiercely denied this, so the ding-dong continues unabated.
The present Home Secretary Amber Rudd is also in trouble after publicly blaming civil servants for the scandal. It is beginning to look very ugly.
Meanwhile, the Government may have problems in upsetting the House of Lords vote that Britain should remain in the customs union after Brexit, which ministers say would be a betrayal of those who successfully voted for Brexit in the referendum.
It never rains...
IT could be good for vote-catching – but bad news for the nation’s economy. That is the Government’s view of Jeremy Corbyn’s restatement the other day of Labour’s plans to introduce four more annual Bank Holidays if Labour wins the next general election.
The plan, first announced more than a year ago, is to have public holidays on St George’s Day, St Andrew’s Day, St David’s Day and St Patrick’s Day. Nothing had been heard of it since – giving the impression that Labour may have dropped the plan – until last weekend, when it was brought up again by the Labour leader.
The Tory view is that to lose four more working days a year could significantly damage the UK’s economy. But it is a tricky one for the Prime Minister, because such a policy would be highly attractive probably to millions of voters, especially as these would be paid holidays.
The Conservatives will continue to argue that however attractive this proposition may sound, it could have the effect of putting many firms out of business. Four more days in which the wheels of industry stop turning may not seem much, but it could just be the tipping point at which many firms might have to lay off workers.
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