Dear Prime Minister,
You have just wasted over £100 million of taxpayers’ money on a snap general election that you promised was not going to happen. Take a moment to let that sink in because it seems that you have no grasp of or care for the consequences of your actions. On Question Time, you told a nurse who hadn’t had a pay-rise for years that there is no ‘magic money tree’; however, when it comes to your own self-vindication, the pot of gold seems bottomless.
I think it is important that we focus on the self-vindication for a moment. From where I’m standing, it seems the only reason you called Thursday’s election was to prove to yourself and your party that the British people were behind you and your mandate to move forward in Brexit negotiations. It was to be a massive ‘I told you so’ when you defeated Corbyn in a landslide. However, if you had been sure of yourself, your proposals and manifesto, we would not be in this mess now. If you had been truly ‘strong and stable’, you would have moved forward with your head high and the support of your 17-seat majority.
Now you are in a position where you are forming a minority government, with the backing of only 42% of voters. In 2015, Labour voters had to duck out and accept that, through our democratic system, we had lost big time to the Conservative party. We had to lick our wounds, regroup and try to make the best of a bad situation. When you announced the general election was to be held on 8th June this year, we remembered our pain and we rallied to cause the biggest Labour swing since 1945. You lost 13 seats, we gained 30.
Joy unconfined! The people had voted and it was strikingly clear that young people were voting, and they were voting for Corbyn, Labour and progress. The Sun, who supported your campaign, encouraged parents to give their children skunk to ‘keep them occupied for the day.’ I’m sure you were as disappointed as Murdoch when you saw that the most 18-24 year olds in 25 years had come out to try and stop you in your tracks.
Finally there was a leader with a manifesto so progressive that young people were engaged in politics. They went out to have their voices heard. They did not manage to elect a Labour majority government, but neither did your voters elect a majority Conservative government. So, why, we are all wondering, are you accepting this as a great victory? More to the point, how are you our Prime Minister?
You went on your knees and grovelled to the Democratic Unionist Party to give you the 10 votes that you will need for a majority in parliament. You have put women’s rights at risk by offering a vote on reducing the time limits for abortion in exchange for DUP support. Your power, and your position as Prime Minister are more important to you than supporting the vulnerable people in your country. You have promised that LGBT rights will not be affected, but we all know your track record with the truth.
Because of your decisions in the last 2 months, and most prominently, the last two days, I fear for women, LGBT, and our environment. You have decided to get into bed with bigoted climate-change deniers and you think we are all just going to accept it. Mrs May, I am writing to tell you that we are not. A Tory majority is a democratic phenomenon that we would all have had to accept. A Tory minority propped up by a group of terrorist sympathisers is not; I’m sure the irony of this is not lost on you. We do not support you. This is not our government.
Prime Minister, let it be known that your nasty smear campaign against Jeremy Corbyn did not work. Whilst you were busy tearing him down, he only had time to build himself up. He went to the streets with the honesty and kindness British voters haven’t seen from any candidate for too long. That is what we needed. He answered our questions. He helped us to understand. He didn’t use meaningless sound bites like ‘Brexit means Brexit’ and ‘no deal is better than a bad deal.’
In your greed for a bigger mandate, you have weakened our position at the negotiating table in Brussels. You have shown them that we are a country in chaos, and that you will do anything for power. They have got your number Mrs May, and if you were before, you are definitely no longer the person who should be representing our country as we negotiate leaving the European Union.
So, if anything you have said is true, and you care about our country and you want to see a united Britain: stand down. Know that you have not won this battle. Accept your loss with a little grace, cut ties with the DUP and let someone else take over.
I know you’re not into full disclosure, but here is mine. Although I was born and raised there, I do not live in the UK. I left for the Arabian Gulf over 5 years ago because I couldn’t find any opportunities for work that would allow me to have a better life, to buy a house, not to live day-to-day. I left everything behind to try and build a life for myself, and I have succeeded. Next year, I will return to the UK with my husband and I am afraid.
I am afraid to come back to a country that you are in charge of. I am afraid that when I have children, unless I can afford to put them into a private school, they will be in classes of up to 40. I am afraid that as you sell off our NHS piece by piece, I will have to pay up to £20 a visit to see the doctor, even if I have insurance (we both know there is always a co-pay). I am afraid that whilst I know I left in 2012, it feels like I will be returning to the 1950s.
Under your leadership, and in your partnership with the DUP, our country will regress. We will lose even more respect from our allies than we already have. I am seeing alarming similarities between you and Trump; accepting a victory that isn’t truly yours, moving backwards with women’s rights, claiming that everything you do is for the good of the country, whilst you only allow the rich to progress.
I know that you’re a busy lady, so I’m sorry that I could not have kept this shorter. I will send this to you every day by post and by email, so that I can be sure in my heart that I have done whatever I can to make you know that we do not believe in you and you are not our government.
Kind regards,
Hannah Mackinnon
