Theresa may

The Copeland by-election will be a fascinating test of whether Brexit can open up more votes for the Tories in the north – the topic of my Daily Telegraph column today. Labour is slowly abandoning its working class voters, with their unfashionable views on human rights and immigration. This was happening under Ed Miliband, and the forces wresting traditional Labour voters away from the Labour Party were laid out in detail by a strikingly prescient report by the Fabian Society entitled 'Revolt on the Left'. It identified the various groups of voters moving away from Labour: typically the low-waged and less prosperous pensioners. Those in work tended to resent those who were not. They resented Labour for losing control of immigration and the abuse of welfare.

Yesterday, the Scottish government published its ‘plan’ for life after Brexit. It was, at 60 or so pages, more detailed than anything we have yet seen from Theresa May’s ministry. But then it would be, given that Nicola Sturgeon will not be leading the UK’s negotiations as and when they begin. Still, plenty of nationalists crowed that, whatever else might be said of the Scottish government’s document, at least Sturgeon has a plan. But so did Baldrick.  That a plan exists does not make it a good plan. Or even an achievable one. And since we are still in the early stages of the Brexit waiting game the Scottish government’s proposals have the advantage of novelty but freshness is not enough either.

‘So… was that a yes or a no?’ A number of MPs on the Liaison Committee asked the Prime Minister that question during her evidence question today. They weren’t doing it to make a point: Theresa May spent most of the hour and a half stubbornly answering a set of questions that she had clearly decided in advance with lines also decided in advance, regardless of whether those questions were very close at all to the ones being asked in the Committee room. She was most opaque on the question of whether Parliament will get a vote on Brexit, circling around the issue by listing the opportunities for MPs to discuss Brexit.

Thousands of workers are walking out this week in a series of strikes affecting post offices, railways and airports - but who is to blame for this wave of industrial action? The answer is obvious, says the Daily Mail: ‘union dinosaurs’. The paper says the RMT president Sean Hoyle’s remarks that he wanted to bring down the Tory government finally revealed the ‘key aim’ of the strikes, and in doing so pushed away the ‘pretence that the vicious campaign of action which has crippled Southern rail has anything to do with safety’.

Theresa May looking embarrassed and awkward as European leaders appear to make a point of ignoring her at last night’s EU summit is such a good symbol of Britain’s place in the world that Number 10 is going to struggle to shake it. The footage, of course, was rather selective, with other clips showing the Prime Minister deep in conversation with European colleagues. But the picture plays in to anxieties about Britain’s standing after Brexit, and also anxieties about whether May will really be able to sweet talk EU leaders into giving her the deal that she wants. The Prime Minister told leaders that she wanted an early deal on the status of Britons who live in Europe and EU citizens who live in the UK.

Theresa May is already not invited to the European Council summit dinner, and now it seems she's not that welcome at the day activities either. Yes, the Prime Minister appears to have been given the cold shoulder this morning at the event -- which sees the 28 leaders gather in Brussels to talk migrants, Turkey, Russia and Donald Trump. May was left looking as if she had no mates as she was blanked on the floor: https://twitter.com/EmilyPurser/status/809369281142157313 Let's hope tonight's solo dinner -- when the 27 remaining leaders depart to talk Brexit without May -- is more cheering than a ready meal for one.

It has been 200 years since Britain abolished the slave trade and sent the Royal Navy out to enforce the ban across the world. Times have changed. Yet slavery at home and abroad is booming like nothing else. Theresa May knows this. It’s no wonder that alongside the chaos of Brexit negotiations she has made it her mission to fight what she calls 'the great human rights issue of our time'. As the longest-serving home secretary for decades, she understands the nature of this barbaric business. Last week, the Prime Minister made her latest move to combat modern slavery.