Playing the waiting game

Yes, Theresa has gone and done it, put the country in a far less stable position than it was, and now we play a waiting game to see what happens next.

At the time of writing, there was no formal agreement with the DUP – the climate-change denying, anti-abortion, anti-LGBT rights party that the PM is courting to work with her to create stability in the country – about how they would support Mrs May’s now minority government. But talks are continuing. Apparently.

At the time of writing, there was no formal agreement with the DUP – the climate-change denying, anti-abortion, anti-LGBT rights party that the prime minister is courting to work with her to create stability in the country – about how they would support Mrs May’s now minority government. But talks are continuing. Apparently.

There is even talk that the Queen’s Speech will be delayed this year as the PM struggles to clear up the mess – she called it such herself in front of the influential 1922 Committee – she has created by calling an election that really did not need to happen. 

Hung parliament

She had a majority; not a big majority to be fair, but a majority all the same. Now, we have a hung parliament with a PM who can surely only be living on borrowed time in that role, and the single biggest series of negotiations in the UK’s recent history hurtling towards us with ferocious speed.

It does not even seem that the UK has a negotiating strategy with the EU

For now, it does not even seem that the UK has a negotiating strategy with the EU, much less one that is on a stable footing – or a “strong and stable” footing, to coin a singularly failing phrase that was bandied about with abandon during the Conservative campaign.

You may remember that back in April I suggested that Mrs May might not get the result she hoped for, and that there was a chance the country would be less rather than more stable after the election than before. 

Sadly, I was right.

However, I think there are a number of good things that have come out of this election, despite the uncertainty and the fact that the Tories are cosying up to a party that seems decades out of step with the rest of the world.

The aim of Mrs May was to increase her majority in the Commons so she would be able to bulldoze through legislation with less parliamentary scrutiny than it would otherwise have had. 

The idea that we should have something as fundamental to our way of life as leaving the EU pass without serious debate and challenge to me is frankly horrifying. That is not how democracy works.

But now, thanks to the resounding snub the UK has given the PM’s “hard Brexit” approach, she is faced with far more scrutiny than she would have had with the status quo. 

For me, that can only be a good thing. Checks and balances are essential for good government, even if they happen to be inconvenient to those who want to get the legislation through.

The clock is ticking

Of course, the difficulty is that because the PM triggered Article 50 on March 29, 2017, the clock is now ticking on the two-year countdown to negotiate the tricky and painful exit from the EU. 

Unfortunately, we are now coming up to three months since that date and nothing – nothing – has been resolved from the UK’s perspective about how the negotiations will be approached. At least not publicly and, given the resounding thumbs down the PM has been given by the nation, her own party and other MPs about her previously more autocratic approach, probably not even privately either. 

It seems to be a case of back to the drawing board.

The winds have changed and the plans – if there were any – have to change now too. The idea of a hard Brexit is not appealing to the nation. I mean, let’s face it, who really wants to have to spend time potentially filling in bits of paper for a visa if you fancy a couple of weeks away with the kids in Costa del Sol? 

It is just not what we know and, it appears, for the most part, it is also not what we want.

Yes, there are issues with uncontrolled immigration, but this works both ways. People in parts of the UK are concerned about losing jobs, services being stretched and money being diverted to causes that might be used elsewhere, such as the NHS, and put that down to excessive immigration. 

They might be right. For sure, some areas of the UK are hotspots for EU migrants coming to live and work here. I see that as part of our multicultural heritage, others see it very differently.

However, when you hear there has been a 96 per cent reduction in the number of EU applicants to work in the NHS, you start to wonder whether leave voters actually shot themselves in the foot, but will not be able to get the help they need to tend the wound because the NHS has too few staff.

No matter what comes next, the uncertainty is affecting markets, currency prices and people’s innate comfort. 

For now, the only thing we can all do is keep a watching brief, and hope the politicians learn some humility when it comes to doing what is best for the country, rather than themselves.

Alison Steed is a freelance journalist