Theresa May pokes fun at successors but praises Rishi Sunak – and issues warning over populism in politics

Published

1 year ago

May 17, 2024

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Former prime minister Theresa May has poked fun at her successors in Number 10, while issuing a warning to them to avoid delving into populist politics.

Giving a speech to reporters at an event in parliament, she spoke about her recent book tour, joking it was interesting to see how rival political titles would be categorised in bookshops.

“Liz Truss’s 10 Years To Save The West?” she quipped. “Well, given Liz’s reputation and record, maybe it should be 10 days to save Britain.

“That one probably goes under sci-fi and fantasy.”

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And how about Boris Johnson’s upcoming memoir? “That will undoubtedly be shelved under ‘current affairs’,” she joked.

‘Answers in politics are not easy’

But making a more serious point, Mrs May – who is standing down as an MP at the next election – said all those politicians who followed her needed to be aware of the “potential threat from within Western democracies” – namely populism.

“We have seen the rise of populist politicians around the world and populism seeks to divide,” she said.

“It seeks to divide our societies and it seeks to provide easy answers – and actually the answers in politics and government are not easy.

“And people will feel even more let down if they grasp for that easy answer which is being provided by that populist politician.”

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‘Need for politicians to instil sense of service’

Asked if any of her successors had “fallen into that trap” of becoming populists already, Mrs May joked: “Now let’s see, how many successors have I had?”

But she added: “There is an element of politics today… that comes into the populism issue, which is a sort of expectation of celebrity.

“And I think certainly you could say some of my successors have fallen more into that category of celebrity than I did in my time in Number 10.

“But I think there is a real need for us as politicians to instil that sense of service and show it through our service to our constituencies, fundamentally.”

‘Bringing stability is critical’

The current prime minister avoided a roasting from his predecessor, however, with Mrs May saying Rishi Sunak had brought “stability” to the role – and could even win the next election.

“Let’s face it,” she said. “[Voters] saw quite a bit of change under us and things happening, and they wanted some stability, and I think Rishi has brought that stability.

“He is having success in relation to the economy, as we have seen from GDP and inflation and hopefully interest rates in the summer, and bringing that stability is critical – being willing to say ‘actually I am here to get the job done’.”

Politics

Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

Published

2 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

The Chinese owner of British Steel has held fresh talks with government officials in a bid to break the impasse over ministers’ determination not to compensate it for seizing control of the company.

Sky News has learnt that executives from Jingye Group met senior civil servants from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) late last week to discuss ways to resolve the standoff.

Whitehall sources said the talks had been cordial, but that no meaningful progress had been made towards a resolution.

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Jingye wants the government to agree to pay it hundreds of millions of pounds for taking control of British Steel in April – a move triggered by the Chinese group’s preparations for the permanent closure of its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.

Such a move would have cost thousands of jobs and ended Britain’s centuries-old ability to produce virgin steel.

Jingye had been in talks for months to seek £1bn in state aid to facilitate the Scunthorpe plant’s transition to greener steelmaking, but was offered just half that sum by ministers.

British Steel has not yet been formally nationalised, although that remains a probable outcome.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has previously dismissed the idea of compensating Jingye, saying British Steel’s equity was essentially worthless.

Last month, he met his Chinese counterpart, where the issue of British Steel was discussed between the two governments in person for the first time.

Jingye has hired the leading City law firm Linklaters to explore the recovery of hundreds of millions of pounds it invested in the Scunthorpe-based company before the government seized control of it.

News of last week’s meeting comes as British steelmakers face an anxious wait to learn whether their exports to the US face swingeing tariffs as part of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Sky News’s economics and data editor, Ed Conway, revealed this week that the UK would miss a White House-imposed deadline to agree a trade deal on steel and aluminium this week.

Jingye declined to comment, while a spokesman for the Department for Business and Trade said: “We acted quickly to ensure the continued operations of the blast furnaces but recognise that securing British Steel’s long-term future requires private sector investment.

“We have not nationalised British Steel and are working closely with Jingye on options for the future, and we will continue work on determining the best long-term sustainable future for the site.”