Only one choice looms in Britain deadlocked by debacle over Brexit
- With a prime minister about to step down and the EU sticking to its deal, a general election or second referendum may be the only way out of impasse
It was difficult not to feel some sympathy for British Prime Minister Theresa May when she made her emotional farewell speech last week, announcing she will step down on June 7.
She had promised to deliver Brexit and had done her best to make good that pledge. Ultimately, she failed.
Now, the job will be passed to her successor. Even before May’s announcement, candidates for her party’s leadership were jostling for position.
The task she took on following Britain’s shock vote to leave the European Union in 2016 was extraordinarily difficult. It involved negotiating a deal not only acceptable to the EU and the British government, but one which would command a majority in parliament.
With both the governing Conservative Party and Labour opposition sharply divided on Brexit, political skills of the highest order were required.
But if May was dealt a bad hand, she did not play it well. She spent far too long pandering to the hardline Brexit faction of her party, stubbornly refused to budge from her “re” on what she considered to be acceptable, and only opened up to compromise at a very late stage in the process.
In the end, it was too little, too late. The deal she struck with the EU was soundly rejected by parliament three times. She then abruptly abandoned plans for a “new deal” to be presented when it became clear it would suffer the same fate.
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Her decision to call a snap election in 2017, having promised not to do so, backfired. Her campaign was poor and her party lost its majority in parliament. She was left with a fragile coalition and little hope of securing support for her Brexit plans.
Since then, her authority has drained away. There have been a staggering 36 resignations by ministers in the past year alone. Her cabinet is divided and embarrassing leaks from it were becoming common.
In the end, the threat of a second no-confidence vote by her party to oust her prompted May’s decision to resign. The Conservative Party’s performance in last week’s EU election, in which it won only 9 per cent of the vote, adds to the sense of crisis.
The Brexit debacle has distracted Britain from tackling pressing social and economic issues. May claimed credit in her resignation speech for reducing the deficit, creating jobs, building more homes and protecting the environment.
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But critics will point to failings such as the Grenfell Tower fire in which 72 people died, the Windrush immigration scandal, and a rise in violent crime.
May did her best to deliver a form of Brexit she believed British people voted for in 2016. It will not be easy for her successor to succeed where she failed.
The EU says it will not change the deal it struck with May. Parliament remains divided. It is becoming more likely that only a general election or second referendum will break the deadlock.
