Theresa May desperately clung to power yesterday by resorting to a coalition of terror with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
After months of smearing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as a so-called “terrorist sympathiser” for engaging in peace talks with the IRA, she leapt into bed with the notorious loyalist party to avoid the humiliation of seeing her opportunist snap election force her out of No 10.
Ten DUP MPs will allow a government that looks set to be — in the words she previously used against other parties — a “weak and unstable coalition of chaos.”
The loyalists have a history of dubious members, policies, connections and links to violent paramilitary activity in Northern Ireland.
Former leader Peter Robinson helped establish loyalist paramilitary group Ulster Resistance in 1986, and stood down in 2015 after disgracing himself with a defence of Belfast pastor James McConnell, who called Islam “satanic” and a “doctrine spawned in hell.” DUP minister Jim Wells meanwhile was forced to resign in 2015 after being recorded on camera saying that “a child is far more likely to be abused and neglected” if their parents are gay.
The party also has historical links to “rivers of blood” race war tout Enoch Powell, and is infamous for its staunch anti-LGBT and anti-abortion policies, alongside climate change denial.
Explaining her decision yesterday, the PM apologised to Tories who had lost their seats due to her election fiasco and gushed that the DUP were “friends and allies.” She said the two parties have “enjoyed a strong relationship over many years” and that, despite losing a dozen MPs, she will press ahead as PM — after declaring only three weeks ago that she would not be able to continue if she lost just six seats.
The Tories ended up with a loss on Thursday night while Labour made groundbreaking gains across the board.
The pact likely take the form of an arrangement where the DUP swap votes for cash to Northern Ireland.
Ms May faced calls to “consider her position” from former minister Anna Soubry yesterday on the basis of her “dreadful” campaign. Tory numbers fell from 330 MPs to 318 and eight ministers lost seats — including former MP and Cabinet Office minister Ben Gummer, who authored her disastrous manifesto.
Mr Corbyn gained 29 MPs, 261 in total, taking shock seats in Canterbury and reportedly Kensington, with the latter having gone through yet another vote recount yesterday evening due to Tory denial — which started shortly before the Star went to print.
In a statement yesterday morning the Labour leader urged Ms May to resign so he could form a minority government. Mr Corbyn said: “We are ready to serve this country … We are ready to do everything we can to put our programme into operation.
“The party that has lost in this election is the Conservative Party. The arguments the Conservative Party put forward in this election have lost. I think we need a change.”
Unite union general secretary Len McCluskey said: “Theresa May fought an underhand, depressing campaign and has been well and truly humbled. People do not want Tory business as usual, they do not want a politics built on fear that spreads despair, and they certainly do not want a lame duck prime minister.
“Credit for this must go to Labour, led by Jeremy Corbyn, which has pulled off the biggest political reawakening of the century.”
[Reposted from The Morning Star.]