There has been increased volatility in the value of Sterling against other major currencies with a general trend towards lower values this week. The reason being attributed to this is the less than stellar performance of “Team May†(the party formerly known as the Conservatives) since calling the general election.
At the time when the decision to go to the polls was taken, something Mrs May had categorically ruled out several times since taking over as PM, she enjoyed a vast personal lead over her main rival, Jeremy Corbyn and her party had a lead of 20% in the polls over his Labour Party. The pretext that winning a larger commons majority would strengthen her negotiating position with the EU over Brexit was patently absurd: May would be negotiating as a head of state, nobody would care if she had a fragile majority or a landslide – the only question would be is she the legitimate leader of the UK?
Mrs May has refused to take part in televised leadership debates, preferring to “meet the public†on the election campaign. However, this is absurd because with the best will in the world she could only speak personally to a tiny proportion of the electorate and besides, her forays about the country have been stage managed, closed events for the most part.
The Tory election manifesto was an un-costed document, but included a promise for a free Commons vote on the restoration of fox hunting, a divisive subject at the best of times and hardly a pressing issue as the nation deals with failing public services, cuts and Brexit (amongst many other issues). A second and more costly own goal was a plan to more than quadruple the level of assets that somebody receiving residential care (i.e. the elderly) can retain from £23 000 to £100 000 – so far so good. But this came at the expense of considering property in the assets and extending payments for care to those receiving it in their own home. The cost payable by the individual was to be uncapped. The average UK house costs a shade over £215 000, meaning that an individual could be on the hook for care charges of their assets, plus £115000. Almost as damaging as its inclusion in the manifesto was the climb-down less than 48 hours after its launch to say that a cap (unspecified) would be put on the costs. This did not play well in a campaign claiming that the PM offered “strong, stable leadershipâ€.
