icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
6 May, 2020 11:39

‘Sheer hypocrisy’: Ex-UK PM May’s call for ‘international co-operation’ in Covid-19 fight prompts anger from anti-Brexiteers

‘Sheer hypocrisy’: Ex-UK PM May’s call for ‘international co-operation’ in Covid-19 fight prompts anger from anti-Brexiteers

Former UK PM Theresa May has provoked the wrath of anti-Brexiteers – who have branded her a hypocrite – after penning an article urging the rejection of “nationalism” in favor of “international cooperation” to tackle Covid-19.

May’s article in the Times titled: ‘Nationalism is no ally in this battle without borders,’ published on Wednesday, bemoans that – in her view – the deadly coronavirus has been treated as a “national issue” by countries around the world to deal with alone.

Lost is the idea that countries do better by working together to solve common problems.

May – who stepped down as UK prime minister in the summer of 2019 after a torrid few years trying to solve the intractable Brexit issue for Britain – claims the Covid-19 crisis has been treated as something that has “winners and losers,” meaning a “polarised politics has taken hold.”

The Tory backbencher – who represents Maidenhead – believes countries have not attempted to form an international consensus on how best to fight the virus, which “risks exacerbating the shift towards nationalism.”

May suggests that what is needed right now is “multilateral international co-operation,” claiming that “the UK can be the catalyst” for ensuring this.

Also on rt.com Theresa May’s speech could have been from Hitler’s ‘Mein Kampf’ – senior Lib Dem

It’s this request for international co-operation that has prompted fury on social media from pro-EU advocates. Some accuse May of “sheer hypocrisy” in light of comments she made as PM at the Conservative Party conference in 2016, when she said: “If you believe you’re a citizen of the world, you’re a citizen of nowhere.”

Others cited her highly controversial “hostile environment” policy while the UK home secretary, which many critics insist was responsible for the 2018 Windrush Scandal that saw people wrongly detained and threatened with deportation.

Others claimed that May “owed her premiership to nationalism” and “mean spirited provincial Little Englandism, blinkered Brexity disdain,” which is in complete contradiction to what she was now advocating.

May’s predecessor – Boris Johnson – is set to unveil plans on Sunday for the next phase in the UK’s fight against the Covid-19 disease. It comes as the UK has crossed the threshold of 30,000 deaths attributed to the coronavirus, outpacing the previously hardest-hit European countries such as Italy and Spain.

Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!

Subscribe to RT newsletter to get stories the mainstream media won’t tell you.

Podcasts
0:00
28:50
0:00
25:36