Theresa May’s vow to ‘go on and on’ triggers mixed opinions but this is exactly what Britain needs now
ELECTION flop Theresa May triggered a mix of rage and relief yesterday with her shock vow to “go on and on” as Prime Minister.
Even those Tories crying out for the strong and stable leadership she promised but failed to deliver on June 9 may be stunned by her audacity.
Mrs May has a long way to go before she is forgiven for plunging the country into political chaos.
Many believe it is too early for her to carry on as if nothing happened.
Yet this is precisely what Britain needs today in the face of its most formidable peacetime crisis, for there is nobody else around to fill the gap.
We cannot wait for wounds to heal and hurt feelings to mend. Time is short.
Brexit talks have reached crunch point with puffed-up Euro mandarins Michel Barnier and Jean-Claude Juncker producing ludicrous ransom demands at political gunpoint.
While pretending to seek a quick and orderly divorce, they are doing everything possible to harm this country’s prospects as a prosperous trading nation outside the EU.
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It should now be clear even to doe-eyed Europhiles that our erstwhile partners are bent on revenge for our daring to quit its cloying embrace.
Barnier and his team insist we must remain subject to the often pernicious rulings of the European Court of Justice.
They refuse to let us negotiate trade deals with non-EU nations.
And they are trying to extort tens of billions of pounds from UK taxpayers for the privilege of us regaining control over our laws and economy.
Brexit supremo David Davis may be doing a perfectly good job as our key negotiator.
But he is not Prime Minister, much as he might like to be, and cannot speak for Britain.
Theresa May must do the job herself and, in the immortal words of Margaret Thatcher, tell Brussels: “No. No. No.”
It is true she is damaged goods.
Britain is paying a bitter price for her disastrous election campaign.
Her abject failure to communicate a coherent manifesto will never be forgotten.
But there is nobody else in the frame.
BoJo has lost his mojo. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is a stumbling relic of his former silver-tongued glory, undermined by treacherous sniping from his own ministerial colleagues.
Chancellor Philip Hammond, an ultra-Remainer, was only ever a fleeting prospect.
And David Davis has probably risen as far as he is likely to go.
There is no Tory appetite for a leadership election which would tear the party asunder and open the door to a hard-left Corbyn government.
A key factor in Mrs May’s surprise decision to fight on will have been the looming Tory Party conference in Manchester next month. She will want to quash all talk about a succession.
The PM will be helped by yesterday’s YouGov poll showing support for the Tories near collapse among those young voters who put Labour within a whisker of victory.
In a re-run any time soon, Corbyn would be runaway favourite to take over as Prime Minister despite his chaotic stance on key issues such as Brexit.
So it is Theresa May’s duty to stand up and fight. She must abandon her cripplingly innate caution and come out with her fists up.
She must bypass the nitpicking Brussels functionaries and march straight into talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Her task is to persuade them we really do prefer No Deal to a Bad Deal.
She must ram home her point that EU member states have as much to win as we do from a harmonious trading relationship once we leave.
It might prove an impossible task, but the Prime Minister of this nation is the only person who has the authority to make the point.
Her performance on Brexit will determine whether or not she actually does survive as Prime Minister.
But Mrs May can be under no illusions. This is only a chance to redeem herself, not to claim a second term.
By 2020, the Tories will need someone younger and fresher to take them into the next election.
She must know this herself, but simply cannot say so.
Any hint she is still a caretaker PM would be tantamount to waving goodbye.
The next few months will prove whether she ever deserved to wear the crown at all.
Britain is fighting for its life. It demands the leadership only she is in a position to provide.
Mrs May will be worrying about her place in history.
Her only acceptable legacy is a safe and prosperous UK outside the European Union.
