The National's Agony Uncle is here to sort out YOUR problems
Is Theresa May intentionally trying to lose the General Election? Richard, Dumbarton
AS mad as this might sound on paper, it’s hard to ignore just how cringeworthy and embarrassing Theresa May’s General Election campaign has been so far.
From car-crash television interviews where she has failed to show compassion for nurses using food banks, to disastrous street canvassing where the public refuse to talk to her, it has been a far from stellar political operation from the PM.
Moreover, with a German newspaper outlining the significant failings in negotiations between May and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, it’s looking increasingly like a continued Prime Ministerial role will be very unpleasant for May.
Perhaps she is looking for an escape route? Might it be easier to hand off Brexit negotiations to Labour – and let them take the political bullet – before re-emerging in four years claiming that the Tories would have done a far better job? This might sound like a barmy strategy, but it’s not a million miles away from how the Tories handled the economic crash in 2008.
Margaret Thatcher deregulated the banks during her time as PM, and it was arguably this decision that led to irresponsible banking practices. However, most of these reckless actions occurred under the Blair regime, and although Terrible Tony and Gordon Brown should shoulder much of the blame, it was arguably the Tories who lit the fuse on the banking bomb.
The subsequent Conservative narrative has disregarded this detail in favour of the notion that it was the Labour government alone that caused the financial catastrophe.
Similarly, the Tories might have instigated a disaster with Brexit, but could simply throw responsibility for it on to Labour, and then blame them for any mishandling of the situation further down the line. This might sound like the stratagem of a weasel, but in the crazy bubble of Tory politics, I wouldn’t rule it out.
If Theresa May knows Brexit is going to be a calamity, it would make much more sense to let Jeremy Corbyn captain that sinking ship, and then “return to save the day” at a future General Election.
This might be the only logical explanation for the PM’s miserable handling of the EU negotiations, and allowing things like Ruth Davidson mocking Juncker’s alcohol habits to occur. Sometimes in politics, the silly explanation is the rational one.
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Blair's back in bid to make us forget about Iraq
Why is Tony Blair returning to politics? – Malcolm, Glasgow
TONY Blair never acts out of anything other than self-interest. His return to British politics is not wanted by the public, but in his delusional mind it is about redeeming himself following Chilcot.
Blair's twisted brain is telling him that if he can somehow save the UK from Brexit, people will forgive him for blatant war crimes. Naturally, the electorate will do no such thing. However, his secondary motivation is to resurrect the concept of Blairism within his party and bring New Labour back from the dead – something that is worryingly more realistic.
Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour leadership has largely been defined by Blairite ghosts looking to slime him at every opportunity. He has faced an assault from the mass media the likes of which no opposition leader has faced in recent memory. Yet, in the face of all this, he has trundled on nobly – not rising to the bullies and instead doing his best in seemingly insurmountable circumstances.
In short, I see Jez as a victim of bullying, and like the bully’s cowardly friend who runs in for a kick at the end of the fight, Tony Blair has parachuted in to take advantage of the media wolf attack on Corbyn. Corbyn has made errors, but the man hasn’t instigated an irresponsible referendum on Europe or bombed another country. For all his face-palm moments, I’d still far rather see Jeremy as Prime Minister than May or Blair.
The logical course of action here is that Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the SNP form some sort of alliance to take down the Tories. The only things that will stop that from happening are petty infighting and political distraction – two issues Tony Blair wishes to amplify during this General Election.
Blair is already on record as predicting May continuing as PM and he has refused to endorse Jeremy Corbyn. Frankly, I see this as dreadful news for May and excellent news for Corbyn.
If Jeremy is the opposite of what Blair wants, it must surely tell the public that Jez is a well-intentioned and honourable man. Likewise, being deemed a “winner” by a war criminal isn’t exactly a great thing for May, is it? Blair sees this as the golden opportunity to kill off the true left-wing contingent of the Labour Party and unleash his Blairites upon Britain once more.
He wants to show the world that the only way to defeat the Tories is to become a watered down version of them.
I sincerely hope that England is better than this, and people use their votes next month to show the world that not only have they rejected the Tories, but the dark days of Terrible Tony as well.
As far as I’m concerned, the only way for this to happen is to make Jeremy Corbyn the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
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