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11
Oct
Theresa May reflects on Brexit, 'macho' male colleagues and Trump at Harrogate Literature Festival
Theresa May reflected on her political career for an hour last night at the opening event of the Raworths Harrogate Literature Festival.
A sell-out crowd at the Crown Hotel heard the former Prime Minister take part in a 45-minute question and answer session with former ITV Calendar presenter Gaynor Barnes followed by 15 minutes of audience questions. She then signed copies of her book The Abuse of Power.
Baroness May of Maidenhead, as she is known since her elevation to the House of Lords this year, was Home Secretary from 2010 to 2016 and Prime Minister from 2016 to 2019.
Her book is about how public sector bodies abuse power by serving themselves rather than the public and last night she cited examples such as the police investigation into the Hillsborough disaster, the Windrush Home Office inquiry and Rotherham child sexual exploitation.
She admitted some party colleagues did not want to continue the Hillsborough inquiry when she became Home Secretary in 2010 and admitted the Home Office under her rule “should have taken a slightly different approach and I realise that now and I hadn’t realised that at the time” to people who were invited to move to Britain as part of the Windrush generation.
Baroness May at last night's event. Pic: Richard Maude
Theresa May and Gaynor Barnes last night. Pic Richard Maude
Baroness May said the one word she used to describe Donald Trump was “unpredictable” and suggested the West’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan “emboldened Putin”.
She talked at length about Brexit, saying her rejected deal was better than the one negotiated by her successor Boris Johnson and that her deal could have passed if Sir Keir Starmer, who was Shadow Brexit Secretary at the time, supported it.
She added the call for a second referendum “was a very silly thing to want” because if had gone in favour of remain there would have been calls for a third vote.
Asked by Ms Barnes about any chauvinistic or misogynistic attitudes she’d faced in politics, Ms May said:
There was probably in my Brexit negotiations a sense from some of my male colleagues that I should have been more aggressive and slammed the door, and walked out of the room, and smashed the table and all that sort of things.
Actually I had a lot of experience of negotiating in Europe with the European Commission before I went into politics and I found the way to get a deal, to get something through, was just patient negotiation and just sitting down and talking to people but there was that sense that you had to be more macho.
Pic: Richard Maude
Pic: Richard Maude
Pic: Mike Whorley
Baroness May said the Conservatives needed to “restore trust” but did not say who she supports as next party leader. She said: “We lost because we lost our reputation for competence and we lost our reputation for integrity”.
Asked what she would like to be remembered for, she said:
I hope and I’d like to think that people think I always tried to do the right thing and always tried to put the national interest first. Sadly I suspect I’ll be remembered for not getting the Brexit vote through and potentially for wearing leopard print kitten heels.
Baroness May’s appearance last night marked the start of the 10-day literature festival, which is organised by the arts charity Harrogate International Festivals. Further details are available here.
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