It’s time for Tory MPs like Grant Shapps to put the knife down and offer Theresa May their support
Those MPs who behind their hands talk of weakness and failure and plot the demise of Theresa May have made themselves look quite ridiculous
LIKE some bargain basement Macbeth, the ex-party chairman Grant Shapps, dagger in hand has been forced from the shadows to publicly call for the Prime Minister to step down.
Yet Shapps and those who behind their hands talk of weakness and failure and plot the demise of Theresa May have made themselves look quite ridiculous.
Yes, the PM’s vocal problems damaged her speech but Grant and the few with him should get some perspective.
The conference speech comes at the end of a gruelling few days where Prime Ministers are expected to tour the conference, dropping in to a myriad of events with party members desperate to see and hear their leader mingle and talk to them.
Worse, Theresa May arrived at conference with a very heavy cold which as everyone knows makes it difficult to speak at the best of times.
I know first-hand how gruelling the conference schedule of meetings and interviews can be.
Yet importantly, showing great determination and a lot of raw courage Theresa managed to re-gather her strength and complete her long speech.
After all, it’s not as though other Prime Ministers haven’t faced problems struggling to finish speeches.
In the mid 1880’s that famous orator Gladstone, suffered from serious vocal problems too, making some of his speeches incomprehensible.
The great Churchill once halfway through a speech in the House of Commons struggled vainly for what he called “the most embarrassing 3 minutes of my life”, as he froze and sat down distraught.
I also remember David Cameron during a conference speech had to rely on lozenges to get through.
And many MP’s will recall that George Osborne used to regularly struggle at the despatch box towards the end of his long budget speeches as his voice strained and sometimes nearly died.
No, those who have seized on this to further some strange and dark vendetta, should realise that if successful would destabilise the government, and divide the party and because of the Brexit timetable, damage our country.
So I have a simple message for the plotters - just put the assassin’s knife down and look around you – most of us believe Theresa showed raw courage and in doing so, people saw her genuine humanity.
Importantly, she also set out a course that if followed will give the British people some cause to be enthused about our collective destination.
The Prime Ministers ‘British Dream’ is a powerful concept.
The idea of a country where everyone can lift themselves, through hard work and determination, limited only by their ability is one that will resonate.
This concept of the British dream now has much greater resonance because we have voted to leave the European Union.
Perhaps the most important illustration of the British dream is the desire of people to own their own home.
Theresa May’s very personal commitment to ramping up affordable house building will go some way to help those first time buyers, frustrated by the spiralling cost of these starter homes.
Conservatives must get home ownership moving again, particularly for the young for it is a vital part of the Conservative DNA, it is essential to our core belief.
Her commitment in bringing in a price cap on energy companies to safeguard loyal customers who have faced high price rises is aimed at protecting the poorest.
This policy, whilst the companies make the necessary changes to the way the market works, is meant to help those who struggle to pay rising bills.
Theresa May was also clear about Brexit.
Her statement, that at the end of March 2019 the UK will leave the EU was strong and I was pleased she made it clear that no deal is better than a bad deal, which is why we are planning to leave the EU without a trade deal if they mess us around anymore.
Commentators regularly point out that the Treasury makes no secret of its opposition to leaving the customs Union during the two year implementation period and if that were the case then it would make a mockery of the powerful vote to leave.
Surely the period of the implementation phase has to be between two sovereign legal powers, the EU and the UK.
We cannot be rule takers and we must be outside the customs union with the power to initiate and conclude trade deals after March 2019.
After all with 90% of all future global growth coming from outside the EU, this is the most exciting prospect for the UK.
Getting on with that must be a priority.
The Prime Minister must put behind her any difficulties she had during the speech and show strength as we engage with our European partners at this crucial phase of the negotiations.
It is the European issue, not a handful of party plotters which will define the prospects for her leadership.
For if the EU doesn’t respond and negotiate a trade deal Theresa May will have to ensure we are ready and able to leave on World Trade terms.
To do this, she will need to keep faith with the millions who voted to leave and the very many of those who voted to remain but want us now to get on with it.
She must ignore the anti-democrats and plotters who wish to defy the referendum vote.
That is why we must get behind her.
For European success will strengthen her reputation way beyond the short term effects of a damaged Conference speech.
Critically, UK’s future and that of her own are bound up in this enterprise together.
Mahatma Ghandi’s words describe Theresa May’s challenge well: “We may stumble and fall but shall rise again; it should be enough if we did not run away from the battle.”
