It’s time to state the obvious: Theresa May is really not very good

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It's time to state the obvious: Theresa May is really not very good.

She failed as Home Secretary to control migration and is daft enough to set herself the same targets now.

She dithered over Brexit and has no plan how to deal with it now that's her task: the Tory manifesto makes that clear.

Her first budget had one idea and it was a disaster and had to be abandoned.

He first manifesto had just one big idea and it too has been abandoned.

These really are measures of incompetence. But I accept people would expect me to say that. So take the word of Matt Chorley of The Times who is madly anti-Labour (as you would expect) and who wrote in the Red Box email (which is free and I consider essential daily reading) this morning:

Three weeks ago I wrote that despite being likened to Margaret Thatcher and Jesus, May was actually not very good. She is fine at reading things out but terrible at answering questions or responding to criticism. I was surprised by the number of senior Tories, under sworn secrecy, who got in touch to say that in the privacy of their own thoughts, they agreed.

Support within for the PM in the Tory party, even among ministers, is wide but pretty shallow.

I admit now I made two mistakes in that column. First, I predicted the correction in public opinion would come after June 8, when May had to make big decisions and her mettle was tested. It has come much sooner.

And I ended by saying: "But it's fine because she is going to win, and win big, and I will be removed from my bed in the middle of the night to be taken to a camp and re-educated."

I admit I was wrong. The idea that May will win big now looks, if not impossible, in serious doubt.

Quite so, on all counts.

She won the leadership ahead of a useless field but that offered no evidence of support: no one had to vote for her. And now her vacuity is very clear.

It's well known that Jeremy Corbyn and I have had our differences. But he's a master of political management in comparison with May.

What is more he has two vital qualities she will never be able to claim.  They are integrity and consistency. And right now people are realising that they matter.


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