British Prime Minister Theresa May just pulled a stunt that would make any PR firm or investor relations department proud.
On Tuesday her government quietly released a string of incredibly embarrassing reports right before its Members of Parliament leave for an extended break.
As Business Insider points out, this appears to be a “deliberate attempt to bury (the announcements).”
The announcements include:
- a handful of courts and two military bases are being closed and sold off …
- a program funding milk for children in nursery schools will be cut …
- and childhood obesity is at an all-time high in the U.K. — even after the Prime Minster herself repeatedly promised to tackle the issue …
But that’s just the proverbial tip of the iceberg considering what May’s government is attempting to bury about Brexit:
Theresa May promised that all EU law and the jurisdiction of EU courts would end after Brexit day. However, May’s government on Tuesday slipped out a new white paper revealing that ministers will legislate to ensure EU law continues to apply for at least two years after Britain leaves in March 2019. As Brexiteer MPs head off to their constituencies, the new Brexit secretary Dominic Raab revealed that the government will implement legislation that will allow the European Communities Act, which ministers plan to repeal on Brexit day, to be extended to allow EU rules to remain in force during any two-year transition. This means European courts will also continue to have jurisdiction over the UK in a breach of previous promised by the prime minister.
And here’s a real doozy…
May has just demoted her new Brexit secretary Dominic Raab in favor of … herself.
David Davis’s resignation as Brexit secretary led to speculation that Downing Street could move to take over Brexit talks from whoever succeeded him. That speculation turned out to be correct with the prime minister quietly announcing on Tuesday afternoon that the Brexit department will no longer be in charge of negotiations, with Downing Street and the Cabinet Office leading instead.
“I will lead the negotiations with the European Union, with the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union deputising on my behalf,” May said in a statement.
This essentially means the Brexit department has been demoted with most of the power moving to Downing Street and the Cabinet office, centralizing it directly under May herself.
U.S. President Donald Trump has already commented that May’s leadership — and lack thereof — had wrecked the country’s exit from the European Union, likely dooming any chance of a free-trade deal with the U.S.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.