Analysis: From plan for Britain to plan for survival

IN THE near two weeks that have passed since the General Election, the results have been framed as a lesson in hubris for Theresa May.
Theresa May in Parliament todayTheresa May in Parliament today
Theresa May in Parliament today

Only now, as the gears of Parliament slowly begin turning again, starting with the Queen’s Speech, is the true scale of the consequences for the whole country becoming apparent.

Back in April, Mrs May called an early election on the pretext that her political opponents were lining up to prevent the Government delivering Brexit as demanded by voters in last year’s referendum.

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In doing so, she conveniently ignored the fact that the legislation allowing her to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty had sailed through with Labour backing.

Nine weeks later and the issue of how, and perhaps if, Britain leaves the European Union may now boil down to the interpretation of unwritten parliamentary procedures.

Shorn of a majority, Mrs May must wait to discover whether the Lords consider they are obliged to observe the convention that they do not stand in the path of Bills put forward by the Government.

And having pledged to confront some of the longstanding issues that have held this country back, the Prime Minister has put forward a programme for Government that will do little of the sort.

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The Queen’s Speech was just over 1,000 words long. It could have been a single sentence.

“My Government may not survive for very long, so it will try and make progress with Brexit because the Europeans are sick of waiting for us to get our act together and tinker with some other bits and pieces and hope that something comes up”.

Mrs May’s manifesto was a “Plan for a Stronger Britain”. The Queen’s Speech was a blueprint for short-term survival.