Prime Minister's Theresa May's final days or not.
These are dark and cold days for Theresa May. In fact these are deeply troubling and troubled times for the Prime Minister days because we can all perhaps identify with her pain, that dreadful sense of rejection, that terrifying belief that everything she does is wrong and everybody she meets hasn't a great deal of time for her. It gets pretty lonely out there and at the moment that overwhelming feeling of isolation seems to be getting worse by the hour, day, week and month.
It does seem, according to all the latest reports and public opinion that Theresa May could be on her way and leaving 10 Downing Street. But then again it could be just an elaborate hoax designed to fool not only the people closest to her but those she thought she knew better. The chances are though, we'll all wake up one day and discover that nobody could be that cruel. Besides there's unfinished business to take care of in the House of Commons and time is moving forward rapidly.
Sadly though time is running out, the howls of protest are getting louder, Tory backbenchers and cabinet ministers are deserting May in their droves and poor Larry the Cat is in desperate need of his daily saucer of milk. Yesterday one Minister and leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom, stormed out of the back door in a state of high dudgeon and quit her job. This may not be the time to press the panic button for our noble Prime Minister because she may look as though she's suffered enough.
The harsh reality is though that events are crowding in around here, there's nowhere to turn and even Larry Cat, sitting loyally, it has to be said, on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street has reached the end of his tether. He sat dejectedly outside No 10 licking his paws thoughtfully, turning his head from side to side and perhaps wondering whether as if it was worth all the bother. There has to be somebody out there who thinks about him, cares about him, and, above all a more cheerful Prime Minister who looks as though she just wants to be left alone. Larry though may have to wait a while.
The truth is of course that the British Prime Minister looked as though her eyes were red with tears as she sat on the back seat of the car leaving Downing Street last night. She may not be a tormented figure yet but it looks increasingly bleak for her as time marches on. Nobody appears to be on her side, the noises of betrayal, are, to all intents and purposes, becoming just unbearable and the fact of the matter is that the sooner she goes the better. None could ever have faulted her effort or devotion to duty but it never seemed enough.
Turn back the clock to almost 30 years ago and the scenario was remarkably similar. Margaret Thatcher, the all conquering, sometimes perhaps quite overpowering and overbearing one at times, left Downing Street for the last time amid a flood of tears and sadistic back stabbers who just wanted her job. For those who couldn't wait to see the back of Mrs Thatcher- and there were far more violently opposed to her than in her favour, principled stands meant nothing. The last couple of months have been both nasty, personal and almost virulently vindictive for Theresa May. The hatred could have proved too much for Theresa May. But this is turning into a very grisly game of power and control and when will her heartache end?
Today Britain gathers together for the European elections and across this green and fair island of the United Kingdom the country will be asked, quite ironically whether it still wants to be part of Europe. You could hardly make it up. Here we are in a terrible mess where what feels like a political grenade called Brexit is about to blow up in her face. Quite clearly though, the main topic of discussion should be about the welfare of a very sensible and well mannered woman who just wants to steer the country along the right path.
But, as they say nowadays. it is what it is whatever it's supposed to be. Poor Theresa May is probably wishing that her former colleague and former Prime Minister David Cameron had just ignored the calls for an EU referendum and just got on with the business of running the country. Now though the job of leading the country has become the ultimate poisoned chalice. We are stuck in the deepest political hole, trapped at the bottom of a well with little in the way of light at the end of it all and just hoping that it'll all go away until somebody comes up with a clever solution.
Regrettably though the respectable Mrs May, a devout Christian and a regular churchgoer as evidenced quite recently, may well be forced to fall onto the cliched sword. Religious beliefs are utterly commendable but when it comes to the nitty gritty of everyday life, it looks as if she'll have to accept the inevitable and recognise fairly quickly that sometimes you've just got to take the cliched rough with the smooth.
We are now at an almost critical juncture for the Prime Minister because sooner or later something will have to give whether she likes it or not. There is or seemingly so, a gang mentality in our midst where a beleaguered leader of her country will just slump in front of BBC's Question Time, kick off her shoes and try to rationalise everything. This may not be possible since there are those at the highest level of the Cabinet who would rather she leaves the country than hang around for any great length of time.
For Mrs Thatcher there was a grudging acceptance of defeat since very few of her colleagues felt she was the right woman for the job. Then there were the tears in her eyes as she waved very meekly out of the car window and husband Denis tried to console her with amusing tales from the golf course. The legacy of Thatcher remains well documented. You know the one; three million unemployed, a booming economy at the end of the 1980s. the disappearance of the mining industry, argy bargy altercations with the trade unions and then roaring acclaim, praise and adulation when late 1980s prosperity became both fashionable and welcomed. Oh don't forget those huge mobile phones.
Alas for Theresa May the whole furiously contentious subject of Brexit and all of the fall out that has now resulted in such wretched confusion, may well be her downfall. Here is a woman surrounded by the kind of people she thought she had unwavering faith in her government, her style and her way of doing things. Sadly though this is not the way it's going to be. Promises were broken, guarantees just casually forgotten in the heat of the moment and agreements torn up without even a second thought.
So it is that we reach the turning point, the point of no return. You remembered the lady with a slightly awkward posture, her failure to convince the sceptics, that crazy dance routine and concluded that all that wholehearted endeavour, all of those tight, well meaning smiles were just a token gesture in a battle she was always likely to lose. Your heart goes out to an honourable, well intentioned woman who was fully aware of her deficiencies but knew in our heart of hearts that her outrageous optimism, bloody minded perseverance and insatiable desire to win over her doubters would ever lead to a successful conclusion.
But here we are at the end of another torturous week for Theresa May, the clouds are gathering overhead and the days are ticking by towards what now seems like the last chapter for that nice woman at Downing Street. It's hard to know what the future holds for Mrs May because the current state of British politics is so highly charged and combustible that at any time shortly history the smell of smouldering smoke could still be drifting into the Westminster air for some time.
This is not the time for bitterness or recriminations but it is hard to escape the feeling that the most deeply unenviable job of them all will probably never find the right fit. Who on earth would want to be the Prime Minister of the UK? Maybe the blond bombshell who stands for Uxbridge is ready and waiting. Boris Johnson - your country awaits you. It hardly seems possible but then we do live in the most ludicrous of political times. Hold on everybody. It could be an eventful summer for the citizens of Westminster.
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