Prime minister Theresa May used her crucial conference speech to make a last ditch attempt to resurrect her hated Chequers proposal.
The embattled leader – bruised by a gathering in Birmingham dominated by interventions from Boris Johnson – pleaded with her party that things would be better after the UK quits the European Union.
And in a bizarre moment May even danced up to the podium at the beginning of her speech as ABBA’s Dancing Queen blared out– a gag inspired by her memorable jig while on a visit in Africa in the summer.
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Photo: PA / Victoria Jones – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
And the hall loved it. But when it came to Brexit she needs to do a lot more to convince her party, and the country, that she is up to the job.
She told delegates ‘our future is in our hands’ but May knows a lot of her MPs believe her Chequers plan would instead mean surrendering too much power to the EU.
The phrase that has rung out at this conference in Birmingham is ‘chuck Chequers’ and the Brexiteers won’t be convinced by this speech. Their campaign will continue apace.
And she hasn’t convinced Remainers either.
After last year’s disastrous conference address this will be seen by some as a success. But her words on Brexit were empty. As it stands she has no support for Chequers at home or in Brussels. But she stubbornly continues to flog this dead horse.
These times call for radical measures but the prime minister continues to rule out a People’s Vote to break the deadlock. Instead she again insisted that she was ‘honouring the result of the referendum’.
And she also refused to rule out a no-deal Brexit. And in a direct dig at the EU she added: ‘I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The UK expects the same.’
She added: ‘There are plenty of prominent people in British politics – in parliament and out of it – who want stop Brexit in its tracks. Their latest plan is to hold a second referendum.
‘They call is a People’s Vote. But we had the people’s vote. the people voted to leave. A second referendum would be a ‘politicians’ vote’: politicians telling people they got it wrong the first time and should try again.’
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