Before the election there was some talk of Theresa May having a "Nixon in China" moment, using her political credibility (remember that?) to float a series of interventionist policies.* According to conventional wisdom, a left-of-centre politician would never have got away with such deviation from market orthodoxy, due to the left's perceived economic credibility deficit.
What a difference a month makes.
Now Theresa May looks like the precise opposite of Nixon in China.
Nixon was supposedly able to make a conciliatory approach to Red China because of his proven credentials as a "tough" Cold War hawk. A Democratic president who tried the same thing would have been vilified as a Commie-loving appeaser.
Now look at May's position. She took charge of a party with the Brexit hawks ascendant. From their point of view, she had zero Brexit credentials ("Remaining inside the European Union does make us more secure, it does make us more prosperous and it does make us more influential beyond our shores" - Theresa May, April 25, 2016). As a suspected Brussels-loving appeaser, she desperately needed to appear tough on Europe and tough on the causes of Europe. Hence the mad rush to "get on with it", trigger Article 50 and out-Brexit the Brexiteers.
Nixon was perceived as being strong enough to seek cooperation, rather than conflict, with the designated enemy.
May was seen as weak on Europe, so was forced into acts of self-defeating belligerence, in order to prove how tough she really was.
In the language of the sweet shop, Nixon was a Daim bar, with soft chocolate on the outside and hard toffee within. May was more like one of those Everton mints with a hard, brittle shell concealing a soft centre.
The other salient feature of the Everton mint is that it looks very much like a humbug...
*Update - apparently, she's trying for another Nixon/China moment right now, only without the credibility...
What a difference a month makes.
Now Theresa May looks like the precise opposite of Nixon in China.
Nixon was supposedly able to make a conciliatory approach to Red China because of his proven credentials as a "tough" Cold War hawk. A Democratic president who tried the same thing would have been vilified as a Commie-loving appeaser.
Now look at May's position. She took charge of a party with the Brexit hawks ascendant. From their point of view, she had zero Brexit credentials ("Remaining inside the European Union does make us more secure, it does make us more prosperous and it does make us more influential beyond our shores" - Theresa May, April 25, 2016). As a suspected Brussels-loving appeaser, she desperately needed to appear tough on Europe and tough on the causes of Europe. Hence the mad rush to "get on with it", trigger Article 50 and out-Brexit the Brexiteers.
Nixon was perceived as being strong enough to seek cooperation, rather than conflict, with the designated enemy.
May was seen as weak on Europe, so was forced into acts of self-defeating belligerence, in order to prove how tough she really was.
In the language of the sweet shop, Nixon was a Daim bar, with soft chocolate on the outside and hard toffee within. May was more like one of those Everton mints with a hard, brittle shell concealing a soft centre.
The other salient feature of the Everton mint is that it looks very much like a humbug...
*Update - apparently, she's trying for another Nixon/China moment right now, only without the credibility...
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