After BRINO, it’s RINO (Resignation In Name Only)

Guess what, the BBC does not seem to have noticed, but Theresa May has not resigned.

This dithering Prime Minister has made the country waste another two weeks, unnecessarily

The BBC and the rest of the media and London commentariat spent much of yesterday on Theresa May’s emotional breakdown at the end of her statement outside No10 and on speculation about her successor.

This article provides excerpts from Mrs. May’s statement — and on its implications which seem to have been ignored by the media as usual.

Excerpts from Mrs May’s statement outside №10, Fri 24 May 2019

(You can read her full statement here.)

“Back in 2016, we gave the British people a choice. Against all predictions, the British people voted to leave the European Union.”

“I negotiated the terms of our exit and a new relationship with our closest neighbours that protects jobs, our security, and our Union. I have done everything I can to convince MPs to back that deal. Sadly, I have not been able to do so.”

“So I am today announcing that I will resign as leader of the Conservative and Unionist Party on Friday 7 June so that a successor can be chosen. I have agreed with the Party Chairman and with the Chairman of the 1922 Committee that the process for electing a new leader should begin in the following week.”

What this means is that Theresa May has once again wasted another two weeks, at one of the most critical times in the country’s history.

Instead of resigning yesterday, she merely announced her intention to resign in two weeks’ time. After trying — and mercifully failing — to deliver BRINO (Brexit In Name Only), she has now delivered RINO (Resignation In Name Only).

Even worse, she persuaded Sir Graham Brady, until yesterday the Chairman of the 1922 Committee of Conservative backbench MPs, that the official leadership process should not start until the Monday, after her intended resignation, which is 10 June 2019.

Why is this important?

Mrs. May’s tenure as PM will be remembered for many things. Not the least of these will be her squandering of the nearly three years since the Referendum, without delivering the result the British people voted for.

Many of us have railed many times about the unaccountable delays in the process of delivering Brexit, including times when MPs went off on holiday. Below is just one example of the delays foisted on the British people.

The first year was wasted

It seems to have been forgotten by the media that formal negotiations with the EU did not start until 12 months after the Referendum, bar 4 days. David Davis went to Brussels to start negotiations on 19 June 2017.

Of course, at the time the justification for this delay of one year was that the Remainer Civil Service was wholly unprepared for a Leave result, and needed time to prepare. All I can say is that it’s very hard to see what this year of preparation achieved.

This is just one example of the delays.

Yesterday Mrs. May used up 17 days — delaying her resignation and proposing that the leadership process should not start until Monday 10 June.

Following Theresa May’s non-Brexit Brexit, we now have her non-resignation resignation.

Yes, I know that arguments will be made that she could not resign until after President Trump’s visit and until after the Peterborough by-election, but why is this? She is already a lame duck Prime Minister and the Peterborough by-election is likely to be lost, come what may.

In effect, Mrs. May prolonged her disastrous premiership by 17 days, quite unnecessarily. Given this state of affairs is it not reasonable to ask that these 17 days be clawed back by the Conservative Party, by reducing its timescale for the leadership process?

After all, the first candidates have already officially announced their intention to run for leader, so the process has started. Surely this means that the end date can be brought forward? My own view is that this could be done in just five weeks.

The country needs strong and effective leadership from a committed and long-standing pro-Brexit Prime Minister. The sooner he or she starts, the sooner the Brexit recovery process can start.

We simply do not have time to waste.

[Sources №10 | DExEU ]