Bearing in mind how difficult 2017 was for our Prime Minister, it’s amazing how confident and focussed she is. It was a genuinely Prime Ministerial performance on today’s media. Mrs Thatcher was known as the ‘Iron Lady’. Well, Theresa May has shown herself to be a ‘Lady made of Iron’. It’s not how you cope when the tide is flowing your way; it’s how you cope when it’s flowing against you. And I sense that she begins 2018 in a far better place than most would have imagined 7 months ago. To me, all those (including the journalists and commentators) who have been part of the the baying mob look rather ‘smaller’ people than they did.
We all know that Brexit will remain a defining issue. There remain many retainers. And much of our media will give massive coverage to them, or anyone, and any report supporting their desire to reverse the referendum vote to Leave, casually damaging the British interest at the same time. For example, very few had heard of Lord Adonis until he resigned from the Gov’t, citing Brexit. Suddenly he was being portrayed as some great guru, though in reality, he jumped before he was pushed, and has never had anyone actually vote for him - ever. But our Prime Minister is not for turning. She has “played a blinder”, and developed a working relationship with the EU negotiators, where the aim is to deliver the best deal for the UK and the EU - ignoring the columns of ill-informed froth. Just getting on with the job. In all of our interests.
Personally, I’m impressed by the commitment to a Northern Forest the PM spoke of today. Combined with the commitments Michael Gove has been making to environmental policy over recent days, the Conservative Party is the genuine party of the environment. Again, it’s important to ignore the gesture politics and virtue signalling of those who would undermine the Government for partisan advantage. Just getting on with the job.
Also, good to see our Prime Minister looking beyond Brexit. There are problems facing Government. The NHS and Social Care, educational attainment, facilitating more private and public housing, and a hundred other issues. It was ever thus. But today we have keyboard warriors populating the Internet, and a main opposition party willing to do and say almost anything for partisan advantage - irrespective of the national interest. It can easily seem that these problem issues are unmanageable. Anyone serving in Govt has to look beyond the Twitter inspired froth, and just get on with the job. Seems to me that’s what the Prime Minister intends to do.
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