Jun 11 2017 : The Times of India (Chennai)
Knives out for May as top Tories plot revolt
London:
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Theresa May was fighting for survival on Saturday after a failed election gamble undermined her authority and plunged the country into a major political crisis days before talks to leave the European Union start.The British PM was forced to relinquish her two closest aides -joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill -as she struggled to reassert her authority .
The Conservative leader has been warned her days are numbered after calling Thursday's vote three years early, only to lose her majority in parliament. May had relied on Timothy and Hill for advice and support since her previous job at the interior ministry , and their resignations will be a personal blow.
Timothy said he took responsibility for the Conservative manifesto, including a plan for elderly social care that caused a backlash among many core voters. A party spokesman confirmed the resignation of Hill, a combative character who one excolleague said had helped create “toxic“ atmosphere at the heart of government.
The news came as May prepared to name the rest of her cabinet, after revealing on Friday that her five most senior ministers would remain in their posts.
The stunning poll out come now leaves May battling to unite different factions of her party and reliant on a handful of Northern Irish parliamentarians just nine days before Britain starts the tortuous process of negotiating its departure from the EU.
Britain's typically proConservative press savaged May and questioned whether she could remain in power only two months after officially triggering the country's divorce from the European bloc.
Britain's bestselling Sun newspaper said senior members of the party had vowed to get rid of May , but would wait at least six months because they were worried that a leadership contest could propel Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into power. “She's staying, for now,“ one Conservative Party source told Reuters. May called the snap election to win a clear mandate for her plan to take Britain out of the EU's single market and customs union, so she could slash immigration. But her party is deeply divided over what they want from Brexit and the result means British businesses still have no idea what trading rules they can expect in the coming years.
The British pound tum bled against the US dollar and the euro after the result.
Less than a year after May was propelled into Downing Street following Britain's surprise referendum decision to leave the EU, party insiders were placing bets on how long she could last.
“Theresa May is certainly the strongest leader that we have at the moment,“ lawmaker David Jones told the BBC.He said it was impossible to predict whether she would still be prime minister at the end of the year. Owen Paterson, a senior Conservative lawmaker, said “let's see how it pans out“, when asked about May's future. “It is not the outcome any of us would have wanted in the Conservative Party . But we are nine days off from the Brexit talks starting,“ he told BBC Radio. The Times' front page declared “May stares into the abyss“. It said Britain was “effectively leaderless“ and the “country all but ungovernable“.
On Friday , May was expected to appoint a team that will take on one of the most demanding negotiations in British history . She said Brexit talks would begin on June 19 as scheduled, the same day as the formal reopening of parliament.
If she is to succeed in delivering the wishes of 52% of the public and take Britain out of the EU, she must find a way to secure the full support of her party to pass legislation preparing for and enacting the departure.
The Conservative leader has been warned her days are numbered after calling Thursday's vote three years early, only to lose her majority in parliament. May had relied on Timothy and Hill for advice and support since her previous job at the interior ministry , and their resignations will be a personal blow.
Timothy said he took responsibility for the Conservative manifesto, including a plan for elderly social care that caused a backlash among many core voters. A party spokesman confirmed the resignation of Hill, a combative character who one excolleague said had helped create “toxic“ atmosphere at the heart of government.
The news came as May prepared to name the rest of her cabinet, after revealing on Friday that her five most senior ministers would remain in their posts.
The stunning poll out come now leaves May battling to unite different factions of her party and reliant on a handful of Northern Irish parliamentarians just nine days before Britain starts the tortuous process of negotiating its departure from the EU.
Britain's typically proConservative press savaged May and questioned whether she could remain in power only two months after officially triggering the country's divorce from the European bloc.
Britain's bestselling Sun newspaper said senior members of the party had vowed to get rid of May , but would wait at least six months because they were worried that a leadership contest could propel Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn into power. “She's staying, for now,“ one Conservative Party source told Reuters. May called the snap election to win a clear mandate for her plan to take Britain out of the EU's single market and customs union, so she could slash immigration. But her party is deeply divided over what they want from Brexit and the result means British businesses still have no idea what trading rules they can expect in the coming years.
The British pound tum bled against the US dollar and the euro after the result.
Less than a year after May was propelled into Downing Street following Britain's surprise referendum decision to leave the EU, party insiders were placing bets on how long she could last.
“Theresa May is certainly the strongest leader that we have at the moment,“ lawmaker David Jones told the BBC.He said it was impossible to predict whether she would still be prime minister at the end of the year. Owen Paterson, a senior Conservative lawmaker, said “let's see how it pans out“, when asked about May's future. “It is not the outcome any of us would have wanted in the Conservative Party . But we are nine days off from the Brexit talks starting,“ he told BBC Radio. The Times' front page declared “May stares into the abyss“. It said Britain was “effectively leaderless“ and the “country all but ungovernable“.
On Friday , May was expected to appoint a team that will take on one of the most demanding negotiations in British history . She said Brexit talks would begin on June 19 as scheduled, the same day as the formal reopening of parliament.
If she is to succeed in delivering the wishes of 52% of the public and take Britain out of the EU, she must find a way to secure the full support of her party to pass legislation preparing for and enacting the departure.
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