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Queens Fish Bar 11:45 Tue Oct 25
Theresa May what you gonna say

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/oct/25/exclusive-leaked-recording-shows-what-theresa-may-really-thinks-about-brexit?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other



Theresa May privately warned that companies would leave the UK if the country voted for Brexit during a secret audience with investment bankers a month before the EU referendum.

A recording of her remarks to Goldman Sachs, leaked to the Guardian, reveals she had numerous concerns about Britain leaving the EU. It contrasts with her nuanced public speeches, which dismayed remain campaigners before the vote in June.

Speaking at the bank in London on 26 May, the then home secretary appeared to go further than her public remarks to explain more clearly the economic benefits of staying in the EU. She told staff it was time the UK took a lead in Europe, and that she hoped voters would look to the future rather than the past.

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In an hour-long session before the City bankers, she also worried about the effect of Brexit on the British economy.

“I think the economic arguments are clear,” she said. “I think being part of a 500-million trading bloc is significant for us. I think, as I was saying to you a little earlier, that one of the issues is that a lot of people will invest here in the UK because it is the UK in Europe.

May at EU council meeting
May at an EU council meeting this month. Jean-Claude Juncker replied ‘Pfff’ when asked how talks went. Photograph: Alastair Grant/AP
“If we were not in Europe, I think there would be firms and companies who would be looking to say, do they need to develop a mainland Europe presence rather than a UK presence? So I think there are definite benefits for us in economic terms.”

Her warning about the importance of the UK’s membership of the EU comes in marked contrast to her positioning in recent weeks.

May said at the Conservative party conference that she wanted to prioritise reducing immigration over being part of the single market. In her speech, she said British companies needed the “maximum freedom to trade and operate in the single market” but not at the expense of “giving up control of immigration again” or accepting the jurisdiction of judges in Luxembourg.

Brexit: Theresa May prioritises immigration curbs over single market
At Goldman Sachs, May also said she was convinced Britain’s security was best served by remaining in Europe because of tools such as the European arrest warrant and the information-sharing between the police and intelligence agencies.

“There are definitely things we can do as members of the European Union that I think keep us more safe,” she said.

The disclosures could prove embarrassing for the prime minister, who faced criticism for lying low during the referendum campaign and offering only luke-warm support for the remain side.

In April, May gave a speech in which she set out some of the reasons for staying in the EU – warning that it could have an impact on the development of the single market for the rest of the EU if the UK left. But her comments at the Goldman Sachs event a month later go further in warning about the dangers to the British economy from businesses relocating to continental Europe.

During the referendum campaign, May infuriated senior Conservative colleagues on the remain side by largely staying out of the day-to-day arguments in favour of staying in the EU. One of her major pro-remain interventions was overshadowed by an announcement that she would like to take the UK out of the European convention on human rights, which she quickly ditched when running for the party leadership.

Her refusal to participate much in the campaign led Craig Oliver, David Cameron’s former chief of communications, to wonder if she was secretly an “enemy agent” for the other side. However, others have suggested she believed in the arguments for staying in but was keeping her powder dry in case of a pro-Brexit vote.

May went to Goldman Sachs as a guest speaker and answered questions from the floor. In relaxed exchanges, she praised Cameron, the then prime minister, and said he had returned with important concessions from his EU summit earlier in the year.

She sidestepped a question about whether she wanted to be prime minister and focused on explaining why Britain should stay in the EU. May said: “That is one of my messages in terms of the issue of the referendum, actually we shouldn’t be voting to try to recreate the past, we should be voting for what is right for the future.”

Goldman Sachs confirmed May had spoken to staff but was not paid. She accepted an invitation as part of the bank’s Talks@GS programme, in which high achievers from all walks of like are given a chance to reflect on their experiences and answer questions.

Previous speakers in the series include double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes, David Benioff, the co-creator of the Game of Thrones TV series, and Loyd Grossman, the man behind the eponymous sauces. Some of the speakers are listed online, although May is not.

Theresa May told bankers that Britain should take the lead in Europe in pre-referendum event.
Theresa May told bankers that Britain should take the lead in Europe in pre-referendum event. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/PA
In the US, the Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, made three private speeches to Goldman Sachs staff in 2013, the contents of which she originally refused to divulge during a bitter primary contest with leftwing rival Bernie Sanders. She was paid $675,000, and transcripts eventually released by WikiLeaks show her taking a much softer line on Wall Street than she had publicly claimed.

Introduced in her private session at the bank as the “longest-serving home secretary this century”, May spoke in much more explicit terms than ever before about the need for the UK to act from the front in Europe.

“What I do think is that the UK needs to lead in Europe,” she said. “I think over the years the UK has tended to take a view that Europe is something that is done to us, we have taken a rather backseat position to Europe, I think that when we go out there, when we can take the initiative and when we lead, we can achieve things. So I do think we need to make sure we are taking the lead.”

Theresa May's awkward EU meeting sees little progress on Brexit
She dismissed concerns of senior figures in the military claiming the EU “was making life more difficult for soldiers”.

“Actually very often when people talk about it I suspect, and I haven’t spoken to them, I suspect that they are not talking about the European Union, but the European convention on human rights and the European court of human rights, which is separate from the European Union.”

A No 10 spokesman said: “Britain made a clear choice to vote to leave the EU and this government is determined to make a success of the fresh opportunities it presents.

“David Davis made very clear in the House of Commons last week the importance the government places on financial services across the UK in the negotiation to come, as has the chancellor in recent weeks.

“We want a smooth and orderly exit from the European Union, which would be in the interests of both Britain and the EU.”

Mike Oxsaw 12:21 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Run for your lives.

She may have thought that THEN. Is she banned by law (or just you) from changing her mind in light of ongoing events in the real world?

BRANDED 12:37 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

She's fucking hopeless whatever the issue. Toyally out of her depth.

mike hunt 12:45 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

it's called Political Expediency, they all fucking do it, none of them have real integrity, FACT

marlonsrightsock 12:50 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

May was probably leaning towards staying in but she can hardly reject the result of the referendum can she?

Remainers really need to let go and accept defeat with a little more grace, I know i have

Face 12:59 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

She was known to be a remainer anyway? This isn't news.

She also spoke out about the need for tighter immigration which remaining would need reform.

Also, having security links and possibly keeping free trade are things she will want to negotiate.

It's not like she has changed her opinion on the benefits the EU gave us.

Hayzer 1:06 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

It's called democracy... Following the will of the people. Some really need to know the meaning of it.

stomper 1:16 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

Its called Representative Democracy. You elect your representative, the person who you think is the best to lead and serve your interests.
This does not mean they have to vote the way you wish on every or indeed any, subject.

Face 1:25 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

Cameron claimed he would stay on whatever the vote through his whole leave campaign. None of the remainers moaned about that.

HairyHammer 1:39 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

I think we have to simply support the Prime Minister and hope she does her best instead of trying to preempt her thoughts.

It is going to be very difficult whatever her inner thoughts about the EU.

Willtell 10:07 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

Well said Hairy. That's my view too. I voted to stay because I am a European but as the majority voted out I go along with the majority just as May is.

Would I rather have her negotiate our exit or Boris Johnson? Difficult one that...not!

Infidel 10:22 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

What's the story here?

She made no secret of the fact she voted Remain.

The 'revelation' of her reasons for voting Remain are hardly even news.

Unlike the 'progressive Left' she has accepted the result and believes it now needs to be delivered. She understands that if it isn't delivered then democracy is dead in the UK.

I have no time for her 'working for the many, not the few' nonsense but on this she is correct.

Russ of the BML 10:36 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

She never wanted to leave the EU. So she obviously made comments to back up why she felt that way. It wasn't her decision to leave the EU either. But now she is Prime Minister she's on board and making happen.

What the fuck is the point of this story?

Hammer and Pickle 10:43 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

The point of the story is her backbenchers are out of control. They are the tail that's wagging the dog of government she is supposed to be heading but is clearly not.

Apart from that, yes, a bit of a non-item.

Bungo 10:45 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

It's basically like accepting the shitty stick that you didn't want in the first place, and then being criticised for holding it wrong.

I never cease to amazed at what some people will latch onto.

SurfaceAgentX2Zero 10:57 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

Well, that's the unsmokiest smoking gun I ever saw.

For a start, we already knew from other speeches her position on the matters that the Guardian has 'revealed'. We also know that May was an, at best, lukewarm Remainer taking the most moderate Remain stance in all public utterances.

There is literally nothing in the Guardian's report to discredit her stated intention to ensure that the will of the British people, as expressed in the referendum, and with particular regard to control of borders and sovereignty of UK law, should be carried through.

SurfaceAgentX2Zero 10:59 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

Hammer and Pickle 10:43 Wed Oct 26

'The point of the story is her backbenchers are out of control. They are the tail that's wagging the dog of government'

Her back-benchers are, in the main, ex-Remainer soft-Brexiteers, you moron.

SurfaceAgentX2Zero 11:02 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

stomper 1:16 Wed Oct 26

'This does not mean they have to vote the way you wish on every or indeed any, subject.'

I'm afraid in the case of a clear result in a binary proposition referendum, it does.

, 11:16 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

May has a mandate from the electorate which she has stated she intends to see through to a conclusion. As a remainer one of my biggest concerns was that the UK would head into this process under the stewardship of a fat, blond, piece of philandering, lying, blubber.

Thanks to the knifemanship of Gove, on the one hand, and the conservative MPs on the other ( for getting rid of the vapid Loathsome ) the country has to me been left in the least unsafe pair of hands in May.

Hammer and Pickle 11:29 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

I'd be more careful with my explicatives if I were you, Zero. They do nothing to hide the slug-trail of bullshit wherever you go.

And it is indeed obvious which backbenchers are out of control following the Brexit vote.

Infidel 11:43 Wed Oct 26
Re: Theresa May what you gonna say

Pickle

The backbenches of the Tory Party have never been so united.

As is well known on here my best friend is a Conservative MP and I can tell you the mood is excellent in the parliamentary party.

The Tory party has struggled with the Europe question for 25 years. It brought Margaret Thatcher down in 1990 and has been a fault line in the Party since then.

The referendum lanced the boil. Europe is not an issue for the Conservative Party any more. The vast majority of the MPs, even those who voted Remain, accept that the referendum is binding on all MPs and that Parliament has a duty to deliver Brexit. That is exactly Theresa May's position.

Any sane commentator would look at Parliament today and say that the Party in trouble with unruly, out of control back benches is Labour. If you think it's the Conservatives you are more of a clown than I thought you were, and that's saying something.

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