A leading conservative commentator has said Theresa May is “unfit” to be Prime Minister after refusing to say she would vote for Brexit if there was a fresh referendum today.
Speaking on LBC radio on Tuesday afternoon, the Prime Minister was pressed by presenter Iain Dale on whether she would switch the Remain vote she made in 2016 now that she was leading the UK out of the European Union.
She replied: “Well, I voted Remain for good reasons at the time, but circumstances move on.
“The important thing now is we should all be focused on delivering Brexit and delivering the best deal.
“But you’re asking me to say how would I vote in a vote now against a different background, a different international background, a different economic background.”
Asked why she could not say she had changed her mind, given that she was leading the country into Brexit, she replied: “Yes and I’m Prime Minister ensuring I’m going to deliver Brexit for the British people.”
Dale responded that Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, a fellow one-time Remainer, had said he would vote for Brexit now as the economic doomsayers had been proved wrong.
May responded: “Iain, I could sit here and I could say I’d still vote Remain or I’d vote Leave just to give you an answer to that question.
“I’m being open and honest with you. What I did last time around was I looked at everything and came to a judgement and I’d do exactly the same this time around.
“But we’re not having another referendum and that’s absolutely crucial.”
Political commentators immediately identified the problem with the position.
And dodging the question appeared infectious as her number two, First Secretary of State Damian Green, also suggested he would not vote for the policy he was championing.
Green, who was a board member of the campaign to keep Britain in the EU, told Channel 4 News: “I don’t resile from anything I said during the campaign.”
Pro-Brexit campaigners piled in ...
And some suggested the uncertainty exposed May to attacks from the Labour Party.
But most damning was the claim by a leading commentator that May should be removed.
While reports of backbench grumbling had not lead to Tory backbenchers speaking out, Tim Montgomerie, a respected writer on the political right, said May was “completely unsuited to her high office” and it was “crazy” for senior Conservatives to keep supporting her.