"Strong and Stable" or "Weak and Wobbly"

The real Theresa May is starting to show herself.

• ·         The budget U-turn on National Insurance.
• ·         The U-turn on “no election”.
• ·         The refusal to take part in any televised debates.
• ·         The “private” campaign visits where the public, and on one occasion even the workers in their own building, were excluded in favour of invited Tory supporters.
• ·         The lack of consultation on the dementia tax, the terms of paying for and recovering the costs of care in your own home, and the subsequent U-turn.
• ·         Here are six other U-turns by Theresa May

She’s 14% ahead in the opinion polls (although that lead is narrowing) and yet she seems to be worried about adopting unpopular policies and defending her position publicly. Her tactics of keeping your cards close to your chest, in the form of the absence of adequate consultation and preparation (softening up by leaking and briefing in advance) have backfired.

Meanwhile she’s convinced both Labour and the Tories not to talk about the most important subject on the table, the terms of Brexit, saying that she doesn’t want to give away her negotiating position. There wouldn’t have been an election this early without the Brexit referendum and not to raise this “elephant in the room” is breathtakingly dishonest and cynical. It should be what this election is all about otherwise we risk being taken down the route dictated by the Tory right wing and the Daily Mail, who purely on ideological grounds, would prefer it if there was no agreement with the EU. Many Labour voters are switching to the Tories because they trust Theresa May to get the best deal rather than Jeremy Corbyn. I'm starting to think that trust is misplaced!

Repeating the “strong and stable” mantra won’t cut it anymore. She’s shown herself to be neither!

I’m sure that both the hard line Brexiteers and the EU negotiators are taking note.