Today we have seen public outrage across the UK after Theresa May’s dismissal of a petition urging her to ban Donald Trump’s State visit to the UK until he reverses his mass ban on immigration. But how can we expect our Prime Minister to hold the new President to account for allegations of sexual assault, oppression of minorities and jabs at people with disabilities and mental health needs when her own track record mirrors these exact things.
When Theresa May landed the position of Prime Minister on 11 July 2016 we heard many people celebrating the idea of a woman leading our country. A photo of May and SNP leader, Nicola Sturgen was propelled across the Internet with a caption that stated that no matter what your politics, this picture shows girls that anything is achievable. I felt sick to my stomach upon reading this.
Those who endorse identity politics may have seen May’s move into Number 10 as a victory for women but to look at it in such a narrow minded, black and white manner completely disregards the immense impact that her career has had on women and minorities across the globe.
During her time as Home Secretary, May demanded an inquiry into the treatment of domestic violence victims by the police – very anti-Trump, one may think – however at the same time it came to light that she was allowing the “state-sponsored abuse of women” at the Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre, in which Serco security guards were sexually and verbally abusing detainees. In fact the Home Office literally refused to reveal how many detainees had been sexually assaulted or raped inside the Centre in Bedfordshire to avoid any harm it might cause to the “commercial interests” of the private companies involved in running it. Silencing vulnerable, abused women in exchange for profits is alarmingly similar to the views and values put out by Trump.
We are (quite rightly) seeing mass protests and uproar following Trumps move to ban more than 218 million people from the United States and to deny entry to all refugees. Something most of us feel is so evil it is beyond comprehension. But are we forgetting what May did in 2013 when she sent out a crusade of vans with the slogan ‘Go Home or Face Arrest” plastered across the side? She has also consistently voted for a stricter asylum system, including voting to restrict the support available to failed asylum seekers and illegal migrants in 2015. Following this she voted against giving asylum seekers permission to work if a decision on their application takes over six months. May also voted against banning the immigration detention of those who are pregnant and against guidance to be taken into account on the immigration detention of vulnerable people. The list goes on.
When David Cameron made his pledge that Britain would take 20,000 of the most vulnerable Syrian refugees, May insisted that the UN Refugee Agency should not be involved in nominating which would qualify. Instead Home Office officials have been sent to the camps to select by their own criteria those who should be brought to Britain. Ultimately, those who get the chance of a potentially prosperous life and those who are left without hope and without a place to call home.
Although this is not an outright ban created to target Muslims specifically from entering the country, you can hardly look at May’s voting record and take from it that she is in favour of helping immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
While Trump labels the mentally ill as ‘weak’ and ‘murderers’ and mocks people with disabilities, May continues to laugh in the faces of the vulnerable by projecting a persona of someone who cares, while constantly slashing funding to vital services provided by social care, DWP and the NHS, disproportionately hitting people with mental health needs and disabilities the hardest and pushing them further into poverty.
May has not always been a supporter of equality when it comes to gay rights either; judging by her voting record, if it were up to May; the age of consent for homosexual acts would still be 18 with heterosexual acts at 16, gay couples would not be able to adopt and lesbians would not have the right to IVF. May also voted against the repeal of Section 28 – introduced by the Thatcher government in the late 1980’s – prohibiting local authorities from “promoting” homosexuality or gay “pretend family relationships”, as well as preventing councils from spending money on education materials allegedly used to promote an LGBT lifestyle.
Yet in her first speech as Prime Minister, May projected a very different narrative, speaking about the injustices that come with being an ethnic minority or part of a working class family as well as celebrating equal marriage laws. Parts of her speech could have come across as almost similar to that of a Labour Prime Minister, rather than someone who had spent her career campaigning for restrictions on laws aimed to tackle oppression. Again, this was not dissimilar to Trumps Inauguration speech. After years of building his empire and a campaign that condemned the rights of minorities, sections of Trumps speech could have almost been passed off as something Sanders would have said; he spoke about the forgotten men and women of America – mothers and children trapped in poverty, rusted out factories and a failing education system. He spoke about how all of those things were going to be rectified with him as leader.
May continues to pursue a “special relationship” with Trump, despite the waves of fear across the world, despite millions of people petitioning for her to do the opposite and despite every racist, sexist, homophobic and prejudice statement he has made. All in the name of getting the best trade deal possible. Profits before people. But where do we draw the line before it becomes too much to overlook? Do we draw it when Trump begins killing refugees? Apparently not, because that’s already happening under both May and Trumps watchful eyes. Right now, it seems there is no line of morality that could stop May on her economic mission.
So don’t be surprised that our Prime Minister is willing to do business with the devil – they have more in common than you realise.
