Sometimes art really does imitate life. Watching Theresa May literally choke on stage as the words of ‘building a country that works for everyone,’ fall apart you did at one point wonder if this was an episode of ‘the thick of it,’ starring Theresa May as Nicola Murray.
Everything about Theresa May since the ill-fated general election has been a omnishambles. From her poor interviews and interactions with the public that had to be stage-managed purely for damage limitation. It didn’t help that May kept parroting slogans in the hope of hypnotizing the public but just led to her being mocked when she was far from ‘strong and stable.’
Yesterday in Manchester was meant to be a ‘re-branding.’ of Theresa May taking responsibility for the mess of an election but being more stronger and listening to the electorate’s needs. Indeed policies such as the energy price cap look putting politely very similar to Ed Miliband’s 2015 Labour manifesto.
Instead it literally fell apart metaphorically and physically. Right at the start it didn’t bode well when a comedian broke forward to hand Theresa May a P45 before being bundled out. There was brief bit of composure as she cracked a joke about it being Corbyn who ought to be given his P45 before her voice decided to give up on her.
A small cough quickly made Theresa May sound like the Fast show’s Bob Fleming as she resorted to making another lame joke at the Chancellor Phillip Hammond’s expense. Even the sip of water in an attempt to kill the cough didn’t work as Theresa May started to choke.
It didn’t get any better as Theresa May seemed to be openly drowning on stage. At one point Amber Rudd led the cabinet to applaud their leader to give her time not just to recover but to reassure May. However Boris Johnson looked like a bemused relative who doesn’t know when to stand up in Church as Amber Rudd motioned him to follow her lead.
Not that it really helped as Theresa May started to look like Roy Hodgson watching his team being completely outplayed and not knowing what to do. She really was one step away from rubbing her face in frustration hoping that it was all a nightmare.
At one point you did wonder if someone from the Tory faithful was going to throw the towel in. To stop what was now painful but absorbing viewing for all the wrong reasons. Then the words started to fall and it seemed to sum May’s shambolic career as Prime Minister. Indeed the jokes flew that if the Tories could hardly build a decent prop then how could they build a country that works for everyone?
Eventually May somehow staggered towards the finishing line like an amateur injured marathon runner who finishes hours after everyone else. The traumatic smile and pointing to her throat were all mannerisms associated with the hapless ‘thick of it,’ Nicola Murray. Malcolm Tucker declared ‘her a omnishambles,’ and it would be fair to say so was Theresa May.
This speech was meant to be a new start. A more personal Theresa May far removed from the aloof portrayal that she gave during the election. It was meant to focus on her own thanks for the NHS who have helped with her diabetes, her humble family origins from her Grandmother being a domestic servant to May being Prime Minister.
That new start lay in pieces pretty much like the words that had fallen off the Conservative slogan behind her. Rather than talking about a new start and May reasserting herself as a leader the talk was of how shambolic the speech had been. That’s also not mentioning the reason why Theresa May decided to wear a bracelet with the image of Frida Kahlo whose views in sharp contrast to May’s
It has to be said Theresa May looks like a middle manager way out of her depth who finds herself as Chief Executive of a leading firm. She also looks like a troubled football manager who has run out of ideas and is just counting down to the inevitable of being shown the door.
That’s not to say that will happen just yet. Catastrophic as yesterday’s performance was it makes no sense for the Conservatives to ditch their leader whilst in the throes of Brexit. Theresa May is pretty much toxic so might as well take the fall for Brexit when it no doubt doesn’t go as planned.
Boris Johnson a complete disgrace
The disgusting comments from the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson about the possibility of the Libyan city Sirte being the new Dubai ‘after they have cleared away the dead bodies,’ should have led to him being sacked.
It was a crude, disgraceful comment that showed a lack of regard for ordinary people killed in Libyan civil war. A lack of respect and insensitivity that these dead bodies are just an inconvenience so that rich businessmen can build a rich beach resort.
More class and dignity should be expected of a foreign secretary which Boris Johnson clearly hasn’t got. The remarks at the very least should have been under more media scrutiny because that statement is clearly unacceptable and in any other walk of life would lead to dismissal.
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