Theresa May’s Split Personality

Yesterday’s speech at the Tory Party Conference from Home Secretary Theresa May has caused little cheer, even out there on the right, with even the highly conservative Institute of Directors (IoD) passing adverse comment on its anti-immigration tone, and suggestion that all migration had done was to drive down wages and deprive Brits, who by definition were hard-working and aspirational, of their livelihoods.

The only beacon of hope for Ms May was in the rapturous reception from the legendarily foul mouthed Paul Dacre at the Daily Mail, where she was lauded as the “Woman with the guts to tell the truth”, but then, when Dacre and his obedient hackery talks of “truth”, one instinctively knows that truth may already have been the first casualty. Certainly, Dacre’s support was not shared with most of those at the Conference.

Indeed, such was the lead balloon-like quality of her speech that Ms May’s popularity as a potential successor to Young Dave was considered to be receding, falling behind even London’s increasingly occasional Mayor Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, whose own offering went down well, although of course, what wows the party faithful is not guaranteed to translate into widespread popular support.

And yet, and yet … there is another side to Theresa May, a far more understanding, open and yes, tolerant one, suggesting that the Conference speech was very much for activist consumption, not for pundits and politics nerds. After many years of getting nowhere in their quest to find out what really happened to private investigator Daniel Morgan, who may have caused it to happen, and why, she has intervened to help the family.

By setting up the Daniel Morgan Independent Panel, under the leadership of the fiercely independent Nuala O’Loan, someone who “uncovered some of the British state’s darkest secrets during its ‘dirty war’ in Ulster”, Ms May has overturned the approach of her predecessors - in both parties - who gave the impression that they would rather let sleeping dogs lie, to leave what could be the Police and press’ darkest secret untouched.

That, from any Home Secretary, takes some courage and determination, as does the idea of re-examining the notorious “Battle of Orgreave”, the confrontation between Police and striking miners during the 1983-84 strike. Those months of industrial action saw significant acts of violence: at Orgreave, many were injured when mounted Police charged groups of strikers. But at the time, and for many years afterwards, no action was taken.

We were told by any and every establishment figure - Margaret Thatcher talking of “the enemy within” was typical - that the miners were to blame, and that was that. One should not question one’s betters. For a Conservative Home Secretary to go against what Mrs T concluded takes some backbone. If she follows through with this Inquiry, Theresa May should be congratulated, not least by those affected by those confrontations.

Don’t rush to condemn Theresa May. She’s not as nasty as she wants you to think.