Express & Star

Star comment: May must now deliver for Britain

It is the start of a crucial few weeks for Britain and for Theresa May.

Published
Theresa May

Over the next fortnight we will start to understand a lot more about what Brexit is going to look like – and if it is going to happen at all.

Mrs May needs to forget the mistakes of her disastrous snap election, and get on with the job of delivering the will of the British people.

It is clear that Labour is not serious about obtaining the best deal for Britain – it wants to play party politics with our future to dethrone Mrs May.

Sir Keir Starmer, Labour’s shadow Brexit Secretary, this week confirmed Leave supporters’ suspicions that he and other pro-Remain MPs want to keep us tied to the EU at all costs.

The party’s policy on the single market and the customs union has changed repeatedly since June last year.

The fact Labour does not have a coherent plan despite the fact the Brexit negotiations are already at the third round stage shows it has no capability or credibility to govern.

After all, it was Jeremy Corbyn who called for Article 50 to be triggered immediately on the morning after the referendum result.

Not even the most ardent of Leave campaigners were calling for such a drastic measure.

Mrs May faces the fight of her political life over the next two weeks.

But she is not just fighting for her job as Prime Minister, she is fighting for Brexit and our nation’s chance for a truly global future.

There are pro-EU MPs on both sides of the Commons chamber who will do all they can to thwart the Great Repeal Bill by diluting it.

The Prime Minister may be lacking the majority that she craved but she still has a mandate from the British people.

She owes it to the 13,636,690 people who voted for her in June, and the 52 per cent who supported Leave in the referendum, to deliver on her vision outlined in her Lancaster House speech in January.

The next fortnight will be a bruising encounter.

Her team will have to work overtime to get its legislation through parliament. She must not waver.

It is time for her to show us and the world how much of a bloody difficult woman she really can be.