“War is peace.  Freedom is slavery.  Ignorance is strength.” ― George Orwell, 1984

It is now 648 days, 1 year 9 months and 9 days – 199 – since Theresa May became the second woman in history to become the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. It is fitting therefore to look back at the successes of Tory policies across the nations of the UK.

1. After calling a snap General Election Theresa May despite commentators reporting that hers was the most unpopular Government in recent times managed to snatch victory on 8th June 2017  with 12,376,530 people choosing to vote Tory. Labour voters amounted to 11,386,624.

2. Theresa May negotiated a successful sweet deal with the Democratic Unionist Party which only cost the UK taxpayer £1billion. Buying their 10 votes ensured that she could continue to get Tory policies past in the House of Commons where she had 317 seats out of 650.

3. The Tory Royal Burgh of Kensington and Chelsea  saved £138,000 on installing sprinklers to the 24 level high rise building Grenfell Tower. A fire on 14th June 2017 destroyed the tower and killed 71 people with over 70 injured.  Theresa May ordered an inquiry the next day. You can read how it is getting on here: Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

4. Theresa May’s Government has a hugely successful record in selling Arms. To Saudi Arabia alone between the months of April and June 2017 the UK sold £841million worth of military equipment and products. It’s a win win for the UK Government as these will have to be replaced as they are being used in Yemen where the Saudi backed conflict is now in its 4th year. Millions of people have been displaced, 8 million are suffering famine and UNICEF state that 1 child dies every 10 minutes. There are no accurate figures for the number who have died since the conflict started.

5. Since Theresa May came to power the number of people sleeping rough in England has hit an all time high with an increase of 73%. On one night as many as 4,500 people will be sleeping on the streets of England. Figures from Shelter state  that in the U K 300,000 people are registered as homeless.

6. Yet another record is broken as it was announced by the National Office of Statistics that for England and Wales 10,000 more people died (12.4%)  than had been expected to in the first part of 2018. The number of deaths also went up in Scotland but they could only manage an increase of 4.3%. As yet the UK Government has not explained the unprecedented rise in the number of deaths in England and Wales.

7. Theresa May’s Government has successfully reformed the welfare system to make it harder for people to claim essential benefits. The reforms include a cap on those claiming for more than 2 children. If a woman wants to make a claim for a third child she will require to fill in a form, naming the child concerned and declaring in writing that it was conceived due to sexual violence/rape. Savings have also been made as 1000 have died whilst awaiting payments.

8. The UK has the 5th largest military spend in the world. Also known as defence spending. In 2018 its budget will amount to £36billion and increase by £1billion each each so that by 2021 it will come in at £40billion. On 14th April 2018 the UK followed the lead of the US and France to attack suspected chemical factories in Syria before international investigators were able to reach them. The UK sent in 4 Tornado jets each one armed with 2 Storm Shadow missiles – a 5m long cruise missile. Each Storm Shadow Missile costs £790,000, you can read more about this weapon here: Storm Shadow CASOM

9. Theresa May’s Government successfully deported a number of immigrants who had entered the UK as children from 1948 to 1977 with their families. Known as the Windrush generation the children who are all now adults had lived and worked in the UK for decades. Foolishly as they arrived as children they did not have a wodge of documentation to prove who they were or that they were entitled to remain in the UK. Before Theresa May was Prime Minster she was the Home Secretary who removed the protection that existed for Commonwealth citizens who had come to the UK.

10. The UK is on course to leave the EU on 29th March 2019, at the time of publication that’s just 340 days away. The UK negotiators have successfully managed to reach no final agreements so far. What they do have is a draft agreement which generously allows the 27 countries remaining in the EU access to UK fishing grounds whilst the UK removes itself from the CFP negotiating table. Theresa May has taken firm action, however, against the upstart devolved nations of the UK, – Scotland and Wales – whose parliaments had overwhelmingly voted through Continuity Bills which would preserve  their existing powers once the UK leaves the EU. Theresa May is challenging the proportionately representative elected parliaments and is taking them to the Supreme Court. This will be paid for by the tax payer and will no doubt amount to many hundreds of thousands of pounds.

So that’s the Tory Top Ten under Theresa May’s leadership. No doubt readers could come up with another ten or more. What times we live in.

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”  ― George Orwell, 1984

Reporter: Fiona Grahame (Other futures are possible)