I have just been to see Her Majesty the Queen and I will now form a government. A government that can provide certainty and lead Britain forward at this critical time for our country.



May manages to use “certainty” three times in her 350-word statement. She means “business as usual” but the times are not usual at all.

This government will guide the country through the crucial Brexit talks that begin in just 10 days and deliver on the will of the British people by taking the United Kingdom out of the European Union.

Brexit gets first billing in the three policy areas that May highlights. There is no hint of a change of policy. She makes clear she intends to start the talks as planned, even though some in the EU seemed to be offering a delay.



It will work to keep our nation safe and secure by delivering the change that I set out following the appalling attacks in Manchester and London.

By stressing her hardline approach to terrorism, May is asserting that she, not Jeremy Corbyn, offers the only viable government in a hung parliament.



Cracking down on the ideology of Islamist extremism and all those who support it and giving the police and the authorities the powers they need to keep our country safe. The government I lead will put fairness and opportunity at the heart of everything we do so that we will fulfil the promise of Brexit together, and over the next five years build a country in which no one and no community is left behind, a country in which prosperity and opportunity are shared across this United Kingdom.

Eleven months ago, as she entered Downing Street as prime minister for the first time May spoke at length about her social justice agenda. This is the briefest possible echo of that. Note the claim to be forming a government that will last five years. Optimistic.



What the country needs more than ever is certainty and having secured the largest number of votes and the greatest number of seats in the general election it is clear that only the Conservative and Unionist party has the legitimacy and ability to provide that certainty by commanding a majority in the House of Commons.

May brushes aside the moral defeat of a reduced number of Tory MPs by claiming the “legitimacy” to form a government as leader of the largest party in terms of seats and votes. There is no comment at all about the otherwise disastrous Tory performance and unexpected result. Note the deliberate use of the words “and Unionist” to signal her sudden reliance on support from the Democratic Unionists.

As we do, we will continue to work with our friends and allies in the Democratic Unionist party in particular.

May signals that this is not a coalition with the DUP but probably a “confidence and supply” arrangement in which the Tories will deliver some concessions – and money – to DUP-dominated Northern Ireland.



Our two parties have enjoyed a strong relationship over many years and this gives me the confidence to believe that we will be able to work together in the interests of the whole United Kingdom.

May’s attempt to sound confident will ring hollow. She called an election to win a mandate, but she and her claim were rejected. May doesn’t look quite as deflated as she did at her Maidenhead count last night, but there is none of the bright confidence of July 2016, and for very good reason.



This will allow us to come together as a country and channel our energies towards a successful Brexit deal that works for everyone in this country, securing a new partnership with the EU which guarantees our long-term prosperity. That’s what people voted for last June, that’s what we will deliver. Now let’s get to work.

May talks as if nothing has changed. But everything has altered. And she has no one else to blame.

