LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May has told Conservative Party politicians that they should stop “backbiting” or risk letting Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn win power, according to Sky News.
After May lost her majority in a June election that saw the Tory party’s 12-seat majority disappear, some senior ministers have resorted to public bickering over Brexit and state spending as they maneuver themselves to be ready for a potential early end to her leadership.
At a summer party for Conservative lawmakers, May took a firm stance, saying there should be “no backbiting, no carping,” Sky News reported.
“The choice is me or Jeremy Corbyn, and nobody wants him,” May added, according to the Daily Mail newspaper. “Go away, have a proper summer break and come back ready for serious business.”
According to her spokesman, May told her Cabinet at its regular Tuesday meeting, “There’s a need to show strength and unity as a country and that starts around the Cabinet table.”
The prime minister should be safe in her job over the summer, if not for at least 18 months, said Tim Knox, director of the British policy think tank, the Center for Policy Studies (CPS).
“Theresa May is much weakened by the events of the last few weeks, and the public briefing of the Cabinet was a symptom of that,” Knox told Arab News.
“Having said that, because there’s no obvious other contender, then it seems strangely to be in everyone’s interest to make sure that she continues in her post.”
Potential threats to May’s leadership include top Cabinet members Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis.
Knox said however the favorite candidate traditionally has not turned out to be the winner in previous leadership contests.
“I’d say it’ll go to someone currently considered as a rank outsider. The most obvious names all have their own flaws which would make it difficult to see how they could succeed.”
Other threats to May staying as leader of the party is the Conservative Party Conference, taking place in October, which could see “mutterings” of discontent.
“She’s obviously been under a lot of pressure in the last few weeks. She suffers from quite serious diabetes. How long she’d want to continue that extraordinarily pressured existence is a bit unknown. Should she herself decide that she doesn’t want to continue that itself would be a good excuse that people would be broadly sympathetic to,” added Knox.
For now, May has issued her warnings, and the summer recess of Parliament starting on July 21 will give her at least some breathing space.
“I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an early election, particularly if there’s a new Tory leader. I think they’d seek a mandate from the country,” said Knox, when asked if Corbyn stood a chance of taking office.
— With AP/Reuters
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Theresa May tells MPs to show ‘strength and unity’
Theresa May tells MPs to show ‘strength and unity’
Another construction crane collapse in Thailand kills 2 people a day after deadly train derailment
- A construction crane has collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, a day after another construction accident in northeastern Thailand killed 32 people
NAKHON RATCHASIMA, Thailand: A construction crane collapsed onto an elevated road near Bangkok, killing two people on Thursday, a day after another crane fell on a moving passenger train in northeastern Thailand and killed 32 people.
The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal.
The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government’s Public Relations Department.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage.
There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.
“At this moment, we still can’t say whether another collapse could happen,” he said, citing dangling steel plates. “That’s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.”
At the site of Wednesday’s train derailment, the search for survivors ended, Nakhon Ratchasima Gov. Anuphong Suksomnit said. Three passengers listed as missing were presumed to have gotten off the train earlier, but that was still being investigated.
Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday.
The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.
Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead.
The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.
Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.
A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.
Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday’s accident took place, though several other companies are also involved.
The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building’s collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed.
Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai’s president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project’s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments.
The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.
The work on an extension of the Rama 2 Road expressway — a major artery leading from Bangkok — has become notorious for construction accidents, some of them fatal.
The crane collapsed at part of the road project in Samut Sakhon province, trapping two vehicles in the wreckage, according to the government’s Public Relations Department.
Transport Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thai TV Channel 7 that two people had died. It was unclear if anyone else had been trapped in the wreckage.
There was uncertainty about the number of victims because the site is still considered too dangerous for search teams to enter, said Suchart Tongteng, a rescue worker with the Ruamkatanyu Foundation.
“At this moment, we still can’t say whether another collapse could happen,” he said, citing dangling steel plates. “That’s why there are no rescue personnel inside the scene, only teams conducting on-site safety assessments.”
At the site of Wednesday’s train derailment, the search for survivors ended, Nakhon Ratchasima Gov. Anuphong Suksomnit said. Three passengers listed as missing were presumed to have gotten off the train earlier, but that was still being investigated.
Officials believed 171 people had been aboard the train’s three carriages, which were being removed from the scene Thursday.
The crane that fell, crushing part of the train, was a launching gantry crane, a mobile piece of equipment often used in building elevated roadways.
Police were still collecting evidence and interviewing witnesses and have not pressed charges, provincial Police Chief Narongsak Promta told reporters.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry reported a South Korean man in his late 30s, was among the dead.
The high-speed rail project where the accident occurred is associated with the plan to connect China with Southeast Asia under Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative.
In August 2024, a railway tunnel on the planned route, also in Nakhon Ratchasima, collapsed, killing three workers.
Anan Phonimdaeng, acting governor of the State Railway of Thailand, said the project’s contractor is Italian-Thai Development, with a Chinese company responsible for design and construction supervision.
A statement posted on the website of the company, also known as Italthai, expressed condolences to the victims and said the company would pay compensation to the families of the dead and hospitalization expenses for the injured.
Transport Minister Phiphat said Italthai was also the lead contractor on the highway project where Thursday’s accident took place, though several other companies are also involved.
The rail accident had already sparked outrage because Italthai was also the co-lead contractor for the State Audit Building in Bangkok that collapsed during construction last March during a major earthquake centered in Myanmar. The building’s collapse was the worst quake damage in Thailand and about 100 people were killed.
Twenty-three individuals and companies have been indicted, including Italthai’s president and the local director for the company China Railway No. 10, the project’s joint venture partner. The charges in the case include professional negligence and document forgery, and Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation has recommended more indictments.
The involvement of Chinese companies in both projects has also drawn attention, as has Italthai and Chinese companies’ involvement in the construction of several expressway extensions in and around Bangkok where several accidents, some fatal, have occurred.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Wednesday the government was aware of the rail accident and had expressed condolences.
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