Has Theresa May tried to consummate a marriage, but ended up spoiling the honeymoon? Has Jeremy Corbyn bitten off more than he can chew? We asked Gina Miller.
We discussed Gina Miller what she thinks about the and who she is voting for.
Was the calling of the election a cynical political move on Theresa May’s part? Did she see an opportunity and go for it? Or was it a necessary step to take?
It was a completely cynical political move. Her justification that this was to strengthen her mandate before we enter negotiations is completely bunk. The mandate was already there. Having more of a majority does not strengthen that in any way. This is also Europe’s view. It was incredibly opportunistic of Mrs May. Labour polling looked terrible and there were lots of MPs being investigated for fraud. Calling a general election was a complete power grab.
Who will you be voting for?
With this whole election, I really feel that it is making the best of a bad situation in regards to the two leaders. I am a Labour supporter but I absolutely will not be voting for Jeremy Corbyn. I’m actually voting for the Liberal Democrats. We need to get to the bottom of the reality of the promises that the Tory government are making, and we still haven’t yet.
Are your children engaging with this debate? Who are they going to vote for?
Yes they are engaging and it all comes down to trust. That is one of the main message I am getting from young people. I have spoken to millions of young people in person and on social media, and two main themes keep coming up again and again. One is that young people are asking – why vote at all because I don’t trust any of them? The second is – why vote because we are not going to make any difference? Yet Labour are capturing this younger audience very well.
Why do you think there are so few female MPs?
After the death threats and having to have the security that I now have around me, I didn’t know the full extent of the problem with women in politics. I now have to have security around my family too. A lot of female MPs though have told me that this is normal. I met with 80 female MPs at the House of Commons and what they told me completely shocked me. One of them told me: “We don’t complain because we fear that we will be seen as weak.” This is shocking.
Men definitely do not get trolled, and do not get the death threats we get. I asked how many of those 80 female MPs had received death threats, and over half put their hands up. Half! Some are now even holding their in surgeries in mosques and synagogues because they have security there. Women are frightened of becoming involved in politics. This simply has to change. This is Britain, what is going on?!
Does having a female leader as Prime Minister help this gender imbalance?
No, not at all. I knew Margaret Thatcher actually and I can tell you that Mrs Thatcher didn’t particularly like women. She thought that we were weak. Having a female leader won’t provide any sort of gender balance in the country – that’s absolute nonsense.
What does Brexit really mean for us in your opinion?
Brexit blights everything. We simply cannot deliver on important policies unless we have an economy that gives us the funding to right the wrongs that have been neglected by not just this government, but governments for many years now. Our education, our social care, the ageing of our population, the environment, our security – none of these policies can be funded successfully unless we have the money to pay for them. The NHS is the biggest elephant in the room! We need a plan. The lack of detail in this deal or no deal is shocking. What is the plan?!
“Brexit will decay our country. The general public will feel the impact in their pockets.”
Actually I traveled all around the country before the referendum. I spoke to a man in Minehead about his thoughts and what he said has really stayed with me. I feel it really gets to the nub of the whole issue. He said: “I don’t care about you rich people in London. My life is shit and I want you to know that.” That’s what this is all about.
What about trade?
On the world stage there are so many trade deals going on. The EU is actually getting there before us. Then the US is far more advanced in it’s talks with the EU than we are. We do 44% of our trade with the EU. Ireland are going to go for unification and they are going to go after our business and trade. They do not owe us anything. We do more trade with Ireland than we do with the top 10 Commonwealth countries, so what are we going to do?
Find out more about Gina Miller and her Best For Britain campaign here.
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