Politics / Carmichael says May resignation was ‘inevitable’
LOCAL MP Alistair Carmichael says it was “inevitable” that Theresa May would resign as prime minister.
He added that “parliament cannot deal with Brexit and the final say must be given to the people in a people’s vote”.
May confirmed on Friday morning that she would be stepping down as Conservative leader on 7 June.
Her position as UK prime minister had been in doubt for some time due to the government’s inability to pass her Brexit deal through parliament.
The resignation paves the way for the Conservative party to pick its next leader, but Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon said she believes a general election needs to now take place.
Carmichael said the “seeds of her own failure” were evident in May’s early days of prime minister.
The politician was appointed as prime minister in 2016, becoming only the second female to fill the role.
“You would need a heart of stone not to feel some sympathy, but as prime minister, she has come to the end of a road on which she should never have embarked,” Liberal Democrat Carmichael said.
“The seeds of her own failure were sown in the early days of her premiership. Her insistence on red lines about immigration and trying to pander to the right wing of her own party made this day inevitable.
“The new Conservative leader will be faced with the same political reality, that parliament cannot deal with Brexit and the final say must be given to the people in a people’s vote.”
Speaking about the prospect of a general election, Carmichael said: “The next prime minister will be faced with the same arithmetic as Theresa May.
“Parliament is incapable of dealing with Brexit. The priority, however, is to do exactly that. The only way to do that once and for all is to put the deal to the people.
“A general election would not produce a clear outcome on that issue. After a people’s vote then the question of an election would be pressing.”
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