So many questions and no real answers.
After the election result, the political world has been turned on its head.
Jeremy Corbyn appeared on the BBC’s Marr Show looking like the cat who had got the cream; relaxed, self-assured even prime ministerial.
Theresa May, meantime, was in her Downing Street bunker, trying desperately to create a semblance of organisation and competence while reshuffling her pack. Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, made clear Cabinet colleagues had told her to be more collegiate; the power has shifted and there was even talk of ministers querying the terms of their new portfolios as the Prime Minister reshuffled her pack.
Yet even Larry the No 10 cat knows that Mrs May is now a zombie prime minister; destined only to be in the hot seat for as long as her senior colleagues determine.
However, given Friday’s shock result, no Tory wants to see another election any time soon because it could propel the Labour leader into power.
So, unless there is a collective will within Conservative ranks to arrange a snap coronation of Boris Johnson or Amber Rudd, then Mrs May is safe for the next few weeks and months as the Brexit talks begin.
Stability is the watchword but the PM’s Downing St defenestration at Christmas time is entirely possible once the Brexit talks have bedded in.
However, first things first; the PM has to strike a deal with the DUP. The hardest nut to crack will be the issue of the hardness of Brexit.
Arlene Foster, the DUP leader, has made clear that “no one wants to see a hard Brexit” because, in Northern Irish terms, it could see the return of a hard border to the island of Ireland, which again no one wants.
There are many other voices – Lord Heseltine, George Osborne and Anna Soubry to name just a few – who insist that Mrs May must abandon her hard Brexit but, of course, this would go against the grain of the majority of her own party.
Yet Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, now with enhanced influence, has let it be known she wants to see an “open Brexit” putting creating jobs before cutting immigration. But does this mean staying in the single market?
Both Tory and Labour leaderships have talked up tariff-free trade to boost jobs without staying in the single market. But could there be movement on free movement? The details still have to be nailed down.
Yet one thing is clear; the idea of having no deal at the end of the negotiations simply will not be tolerated by Westminster. So the PM will have to ditch the “no deal is better than a bad deal” mantra.
The Queen’s Speech is a week today and is likely to be a slimmed down version of what the Tories had expected just a few weeks ago to ensure it gets through. Because of her weakened position, Mrs May, the “Queen of U-turns,” is likely to have to perform a few more before she leaves No 10.
And what about Nicola Sturgeon and so-called indyref2? The First Minister has spoken of reflecting on the election result, which saw a surge of support for the pro-Unionist parties.
A holding position is likely ie saying because the Brexit process is uncertain, it might be best to review the situation in, say, a year’s time.
But who knows where the country will be by then, how the Brexit process will be going and even who will be sitting in No 10. We have entered an age of uncertainty.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel