Theresa May – Wannabe Con Artist of the Year?

05.04.2018 Author: Grete Mautner

Theresa May – Wannabe Con Artist of the Year?

Column: Politics

Region: Europe

The image of a fatal woman or femme fatale is a sort of an ideal that some women would pursue throughout their lives. This is particularly true for businesswomen, and those females that are dreaming about a political career, as those are generally inclined to show the world that no heels are too high for them. However, a femme fatale of today is unlike Teffi’s classic demonic woman that would wear the black velvet cassock, the chain on her forehead, the bracelet on her leg and the portrait of of Oscar Wilde on her left garter.

Yet, it was Oscar Wilde who made the adventurous spirit of “Jersey Lily” extremely popular with English girls, using her as prototype for his protagonist in Lady Windermere’s Fan. The real name of “Jersey Lily” was Emily Charlotte Langtry, but she would be forever remembered by her nickname. Born in 1853 on the island of Jersey in the family of a priest, she would adhere throughout her life to the belief that one’s captivating appearance and self-confidence were enough to navigate this life without much hardship.

This play and its message did not go unnoticed by Theresa May, who while following in the steps of “Jersey Lily” decided to become MP in the House of Commons as early as in her forties. Then, thought 1997-2002. she would be occupying all sorts of secondary positions in the Conservative shadow cabinet to later become first female Tory chairman. After the 2010 elections she was appointed Home Secretary and Minister for Women and Equalities almost simultaneously. Moreover, these appointments were followed by May becoming Britain’s second Prime Minister after Margaret Thatcher.

Therefore, it should come as no surprise that such a breathtaking political career can compromise anyone’s integrity, and it seems that May is no exception, since she at some point in time decided that her catastrophic handling of the Brexit situation wouldn’t be enough for her to make history. So she decided to try on the attire of Jeanne D’Arc by unleashing a massive propaganda campaign against Russia “to get the world awakened from its sleep,” that came on the back of Washington’s ongoing Russophobic hysteria. It goes without saying that May obtained Trump’s support before embarking on her crusade against Russia. But she needed a pretext to do so and the former double agent Skripal, who had already betrayed all the secrets he could know to British and American special services did come in handy.

That’s how the Salisbury incident came into existence, marking the biggest gamble in Theresa May’s political career. But no matter how hard she has been trying to push her agenda in the European Union, various experts can’t help but notice the far-fetched nature of her accusations against Russia. Even those experts employed by the Porton Down chemical weapons laboratory were not able to establish that the nerve gas allegedly used in the Salisbury incident could be manufactured in Russia. Under these conditions, the British Foreign Ministry was forced to admit that those accusations that Teresa May has been making in a bid to isolate Russia “were based on assumptions.” However, in a bid to save face of the sitting Prime Minister government officials would rush to specify that in her evaluation of the Salisbury incident Teresa May wasn’t fully relying on “scientific evidence” as she received “a comprehensive assessment of the situation by British intelligence services.”

There’s an ever growing number of political figures across the Western world that are stressing that in order to make such accusations May should have been in possession of hard evidence against Russia. A Polish European Parliament MP, Janusz Korvin-Mikke has already announced that London should show what it has against Russia or apologize.

The Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia and close associate of Angela Merkel, Armin Laschet is equally convinced that without showing proof Britain can be in no position to demand Europe to take any anti-Russian steps. A well-known American analyst, Stephen Cohen stresses that Russia is not Iraq, Libya, Syria or Ukraine, as further Western provocations against it may soon result in the human race facing its tragic end rather unexpectedly.

In a bid to somehow soften the blow, the United States and Germany have already proposed Moscow to replace those expelled Russian diplomats with new ones.

Apparently, ever since the Porton Down chemical weapons laboratory made it clear it had no way of telling wether or not Russia was involved in the staging of the Salisbury incident, British politicians will have a hard time speaking with their former EU partners without apologizing to Russia.

As for the consequences Theresa May will have to face in the aftermath of the Salisbury incident, the clouds of public distrust have been making her political prospects rather depressing for a long while now and her latest gamble wouldn’t make things any easier. According to the Independent up to 40 Conservative MPs were prepared to sign a letter of no confidence in Theresa May last November. A couple of months earlier opinion polls were showing that most conservative voters were supporting the notion of Theresa May stepping down immediately after the finalization of the Brexit procedure in 2019.

After the terrorist attack in London that occurred last summer Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbin urged Teresa May to resign since she was directly responsible for cuts made to police budgets during her time as home secretary.

Therefore, today both in Britain and across Europe the public opinion is inclined to support the notion that in the lights of the blatant lies voiced by the British Prime Minister in the heights of the Salisbury incident that demonstrate her complete political incompetence, May should leave Downing Street.

Public reaction to this recent crisis will be a test of maturity for the British society. If May is going to be slapped on the wrist for her gamble this will effectively put an end to almost two decades of impunity that British elected representatives have been enjoying since the invasion of Iraq and destruction of Libya. Those conflicts, just like the financial crisis of 2008, made it clear for the British elite that it could get away with stealing trillions of dollars without receiving as much as mild criticism from its population.

Grete Mautner is an independent researcher and journalist from Germany, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
https://journal-neo.org/2018/04/05/theresa-may-wannabe-con-artist-of-the-year/