Today George Osborne has begun his new job as the editor of the Evening Standard. Given that the paper’s proprietor previously claimed the former chancellor would provide the real opposition to Theresa May, it should come as no surprise that Osborne has wasted no time in turning his ire on the Prime Minister.
In today’s leader, Brexit is branded ‘an historic mistake’:
‘The British people were asked last year whether we should remain in or leave the European Union. Although the majority of Londoners wanted to remain, the country — by a small but clear margin — voted to leave. This paper respects that democratic decision, even though it continues to believe it to be an historic mistake.’
It goes on to reference the Juncker dinner and warn that ‘reality bites’:
‘The negotiations over Brexit have only just started and already we see how unrealistic were the claims made about the strength of Britain’s hand — as the account of the Prime Minister’s dinner with Jean-Claude Juncker, the President of the European Commission, published in Germany reveals. The bad blood continues today as the European Parliament’s chief negotiator, Guy Verhofstadt, tweets, tongue-in-cheek, that Britain needs a “strong and stable” understanding of the complex issues involved. The complaints from Brexiteers that these discussions about our future with Europe’s governing elite must be kept secret is one of the many ironies that will entertain us in the coming months. The country should prepare for more tough days ahead as reality bites.’
Before claiming this snap election will only provide the Conservatives with ‘more of a mandate’ if ‘the Prime Minister and her colleagues spell out in much more detail what their intentions are’:
‘No one should assume that the referendum gave a mandate to the Government to answer any of these questions about Britain’s future. It did not. A general election victory for the Conservatives could provide more of a mandate, but only if the Prime Minister and her colleagues spell out in much more detail what their intentions are. It’s early days, but that is not happening, thanks in part to the failure of the desperately weak Labour leadership to offer a proper opposition. There’s nothing wrong with repeating election campaign slogans; the problem comes when the election campaign amounts to no more than a slogan. If you ask for a blank cheque, don’t be surprised if later it bounces.’
All in a day’s work for the former MP for Tatton…
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