Why Theresa May now has nothing to lose

Theresa May is behaving like a prime minister who has worked out that taking cautious steps to cling on to power is a bankrupt strategy.

The ruthlessness with which she dispatched her defence secretary Gavin Williamson, who was till recently her closest ally, is one piece of supporting evidence.

The point is that when he allegedly told senior armed forces personnel that ‘I made her and I can break her’, it was not just bluster.