Tory Leadership race – Theresa May, in Maggie’s footsteps

Meticulous, fierce, determined, exactly the type of leader the country needs for the post-Brexit negotiations.

by Salvatore Murtas – Published on ItaloEuropeo on 02/07/2016

 

Home Secretary Theresa May delivers her speech to the Conservative Party conference at Manchester Central. (Photo credit: Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

The British political scene has gifted us with 10 days of absolute drama-galore. Not for the faint-hearted, that is, because we went overnight from being a fundamental member of the EU to one destined to irrelevance in shaping its future, from having a successful Prime Minister to a resigning one, from preparing to count the votes for the seemingly pre-destined histrionic Boris Johnson as the party leader to seeing him pulling out of the race following one of the shrewdest, most treacherous political acts in recent history.

Wow! If times weren’t so damningly serious and uncertain, I’d say I’ve enjoyed being bombarded by the unfolding events, by such an outburst of dramatic developments.

 

But down to the point, the race for the Tory party leadership has taken a significant swerve to one quite unexpected outcome. With the premature departure of Boris Johnson, who not so valiantly turned his back on the country following Gove’s announcement – a superbly deceitful act of betrayal that outwitted BoJo and left literally everyone jaw-dropped – the contest has seen all attention focused on Theresa May.

The gutsy Home Secretary reminds me of Maggie Thatcher, no so much for her thundering personality – on the contrary Mrs May is quite posed and defiantly cool – as for the sturdiness of her character and action. She is not the type of person who would shy away from the mandate of the British people to leave the EU, and at the same time she would provide a strong, determined leadership to present the most compelling case in the Brexit negotiations with a greatly needed touch of pragmatism and realism, which obviously Gove lacks.

Most of the Tory MPs have already announced May as their preference for the new party leader and Prime Minister, proving the extreme confidence in her ability, meticulousness, commitment and dedication.

In her candidacy speech, the longest serving Home Secretary in the last 60 years showed intelligence, charisma and determination, talking about the need to unite the nation and to conduct the Brexit negotiations with the utmost competence and seriousness.

 

“Our country needs strong, proven leadership to steer us through this period of economic and political uncertainty, and to negotiate the best possible terms as we leave the European Union. We need leadership that can unite our party and our country,” convincingly announced Mrs. May, showing that she understands the reasons behind the will of the majority of the British people to leave the EU.

But even more importantly, she was in the side-lines of the Remain campaign – mainly due to the fact that she fully understands the implications of the failures of the EU in managing the immigration crisis – indicating her sense of realism. The immigration crisis in the EU has worked as a pretty strong point in mobilizing and convincing the Leave voters, and despite Nigel Farage and UKip having exaggerated the reality of facts and dismissed the serious implications for the UK, it still is a real issue and an enduring crisis.

The consequences of leaving the EU, despite the necessity of it to be reformed, are going to be profound for the UK as well as for the EU itself. Theresa May knows this perfectly well, and her detachment from the heat of the battle would provide the cool-headed, pragmatic leadership that this country needs in these very turbulent, uncertain times.

 

Brexit – Gove traccia le linee guida, stop a libera circolazione

Dopo la spallata al leader della campagna Vote Leave Boris Johnson nella corsa alla successione di David Cameron, Michael Gove annuncia i tre punti chiave nelle trattative con l’Ue.

di Salvatore Murtas – pubblicato su ItaloEuropeo il 02/07/2016

 

Categorico, calcolatore, scialbo quasi al limite dell’insipidità. Il Ministro della Giustizia Michael Gove, alla sua prima conferenza stampa dopo l’annuncio della candidatura a leader del partito e alla guida del paese, ha tenuto a precisare “di non essere carismatico, il carisma non so cosa sia,” quasi a marcare un netto contrasto con l’ex alleato Boris Johnson.

Mai parole furono più esatte! L’entusiasmo non ha certo caratterizzato gli oltre 40 minuti di conferenza stampa, servita a Gove per delineare alcuni punti del suo programma di governo, tra cui maggiori risorse per il sistema sanitario – un aumento del budget di oltre £100 milioni a settimana, in contrasto con i £350 milioni promessi in campagna – la promozione di un sistema più meritocratico, e la costruzione di centinaia di migliaia di nuove abitazioni.

Ma il momento più significativo e atteso della conferenza è stato il suo programma di negoziazione della Brexit.

Addio Ue

Se Johnson, nei giorni immediatamente successivi al voto, aveva fatto intendere di essere intenzionato a trovare un compromesso sulla libera circolazione in modo da salvaguardare l’accesso al mercato unico – punto considerato nevralgico dall’ex sindaco di Londra – Gove sembra invece determinato a chiudere le trattative senza cedere di un millimetro.

E proprio su questo punto sembra si sia consumata la rottura tra i due ex alleati, con Johnson convinto della vitale importanza del mercato unico per l’economia britannica, e Gove fervente sostenitore del contrario, a dispetto degli ovvi rischi di tale manovra.

Da qui scaturisce il postulato odierno dell’algido scozzese: fuori dall’Ue e stop alla libera circolazione, rimpiazzata da un sistema a punti stile australiano; ripristino della democrazia nel Regno Unito con la fine della supremazia delle regole Ue; e nessuna volontà di invocare l’ormai famoso articolo 50 che da inizio alle trattive ufficiali dell’uscita dall’Unione entro il 2016.

Tu quoque, Gove?

Questa sembra essere stata la reazione incredula del favoritissimo alla carica di leader e di Primo Ministro Boris Johnson.

Per chi non avesse seguito gli sviluppi della corsa alla successione di David Cameron degli ultimi giorni, la politica inglese ci ha servito l’ennesimo colpo di scena.

Quando tutti davano per scontata la candidatura e l’elezione di Boris Johnson alla leadership dei Conservatives, il suo principale alleato e manager della campagna Vote Leave gli ha dato il benservito, anticipandolo sul tempo e annunciando la sua candidatura solo alcune ore prima che lo facesse l’istrionico ex sindaco di Londra.

Una coltellata alle spalle, una Brexecution come ha titolato il Sun, un tradimento in stile Bruto come spiegano dalle colonne del Telegraph. In sostanza, un voltafaccia bello e buono che ha colto tutti di sorpresa, Johnson in primis.

Ma come è risaputo, la politica non è nuova a doppiogiochismi, e nel tipico pragmatismo inglese, lo stesso Johnson ha incassato, si è defilato rinunciando alla candidatura, consapevole di essere stato sconfitto, vinto da un placido, infido alleato che per anni si è detto incapace e inadatto a guidare il partito e la nazione.

Boris, it’s your moral responsibility to pick up the pieces

Why the former Mayor of London has no other choice but leading the post-Brexit vote process.

by Salvatore Murtas

Former Mayor of London Boris Johnson faces the moral obligation to lead the country in the negotiation phase with the EU (©Getty)

For those who have been on Mars the past few days, it’s happened: the UK has voted to leave the European Union!

I still can’t believe it, despite watching the results unravel live on the BBC referendum marathon, reading hundreds of articles, flicking through thousands of posts on social media. Only now I bring myself to put down a few thoughts, as the disbelief mixed with anxiety has left room to a clearer sense of perspective.

Let’s be clear, the people of Britain have spoken: the will of the majority is sovereign, and the indication of the new course clearly traced. Over 17 million UK citizens, with an uncompromising margin of 1.2 million preferences, have made their intention clear, and we all have to roll up our sleeves and make sure the result of the referendum becomes a success.

Calls for a second referendum, as circulated on social media through petitions allegedly signed by 3 million people, are simply wrong. And this is for a couple of reasons.

Undermining the result of June 23 by calling for a second vote would: 1) further alienate voters – as it happened the majority that already feel somewhat disenfranchised or angry at the establishment; 2) be unfair on those who voted to leave; 3) be contrary to the principles and workings of democracy.

And as a Remainer, I say this: grow up!

Everyone should accept the result, stop questioning the fundamental principle and value of direct democracy, and put an end to the revolting blame-game on those who voted in a different way.

Grow up, because everyone’s vote is sacrosanct, and no one’s vote is more important than another.

Grow up, because the claim made by the ‘young generation’ according to which the grandpas and grandmas of little England stole the vote, is simply unfounded. If youngsters cared so much about their future, how come only 32% turned out to vote? They should have probably informed the 68% that did not bother to make it to the polling station that each vote counts. If you didn’t know this before June 23, then let’s just add this lesson to the result of the referendum. Next time you’ll know better. Bottom line, we all have to accept and deal with the consequences, for better or worse.

But enough of the lecturing. Looking ahead, here’s the real deal for me: one person, and one person only, should stand for the leadership of the party, and consequently for the position of Prime Minister, and that person is Boris Johnson.

No hesitation – BoJo must take ownership of the referendum result at once, translating his vision into a credible plan for the future of the UK outside of the EU (©North News & Pictures Ltd)

Why BoJo? As the main advocate of the Vote Leave position, and one who possibly swayed as many as 2% of the votes, bringing more resonance to the cause, andplaying a major role in convincing the moderate part of the electorate, I believe he should take the responsibility of leading the country out of the puddle upon himself without hesitation.

It’s a moral responsibility!

Make no mistake, Boris can boast the skills, wit, energy, resilience, clout, charisma and leadership for the job as no one else in the Conservative Party, or in the entire political arena. But more importantly, he is the main protagonist of this whole melee, hence the moral obligation.

Before he joined the Leave camp, not much credit or credibility was given to what was essentially Nigel Farage’s creation. In everyone’s opinion, Cameron’s IN campaign was plain sailing, and the EU referendum a mere formality.

Without Johnson, the Leave campaign would have hardly hit the headlines, but once he announced his support, papers and TV programmes talked about it for days.

With his endorsement, he’s given legitimacy to the Out camp, making its position acceptable to the moderate section of the electorate, particularly those who refuse to have anything to do with UKip xenophobic and racial stance. Boris provided a vision, a credible alternative for UK’s future outside of the EU, and a series of extremely appealing slogans. Take Back Control and Our Country’s Independence Day certainly helped doing the trick.

No question that the Vote Leave win is Johnson’s own achievement, and though it’s fair to maintain that he has been as surprised as everyone else, he has proved a clever interpreter of the raging dissent and anti-establishment sentiments. So the Brexit leader must take ownership of his campaign result without further a due, clearly stating his leadership intentions at once, and proceeding to translate his vision into a credible plan to lead Britain out of the puddle.

A few days ago, a very interesting comment on the Guardian online caught a lot of attention. In his analysis, the commenter stated that whatever BoJo does or does not do, his career is finished. Well, as much as I enjoyed the analysis, and support parts of it. In politics, as in life, a single event can change the course of history, as we are constantly reminded, also in the case of the referendum.

This why I maintain that as a matter of principle, and morality, BoJo cannot call himself out in this crucial phase of the nation’s history. His career would be irreparably tainted, he would fail to live up to his potential, and ultimately he would be dwarfed by the noble gesture, and stoic fighting spirit, of the Conservative leader that took the country out of the 2008 economic crisis.

Yes, David Cameron. As a member of the Conservative Party, and a true admirer of the PM, it pained me to see him resign on Friday. But for this, I admire him even more, as his resignations stand as evidence of real statesmanship, dignity, responsibility and sense of state.

David Cameron fought wholeheartedly a brave fight, and with his honourable gesture underlined yet again that the country’s will and future interest to be more important than his political career.

Those who question his decision to keep his manifesto pledge and hold a referendum simply do not understand the real value of the British parliamentary democracy.