UK PM May Speech Dominated By Prankster And Respiratory Issues

--New Policy Announcements Include GBP2bln Extra For Social Housing And Energy

Price Caps

By Kieran Williams

     LONDON (MNI) - UK Prime Minister Theresa May delivered her speech at the

Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, announcing several fresh policy

initiatives, though discussion in the wake of the speech will be focused on

other areas. 

     May began her speech with an apology for the campaign and result in the

recent election where the Tories did not win the majority and said she took

personal responsibility.

May then proceeded with the usual party platitudes, that "each generation should

do better than the last" and detailing various achievements of the Conservative

government including employment at a record high and lower income taxes.

The substantive announcements in the speech, areas that were redacted from the

drafts released to the media due to being deemed market sensitive, were centred

around social housing and a cap on energy prices. May pledged that the

government would fix a "broken housing market" and announced an additioanl

GBP2bln to spend on affordable housing which would bring the total budget for

affordable housing to Stg 9 billion. 

     May added that she wants to send a clear message to housebuilders that the

government will ensure land is available for building.

On energy prices May said that draft legislation to implement an energy cap

would be published next week. The energy cap was one of the pledges in the Tory

party manifesto but has been under some scrutiny after a far milder proposal in

the Queen's speech which was seen as a partial capitulation and reflective of UK

Chancellor Philip Hammond's influence. 

Brexit was only briefly touched on, the negotiations can be frustrating said May

but she said "I am confident that we will find deal that works for Britain and

Europe". May has spoken extensively with the media at the conference this week

and has repeatedly emphasised that she set out her Brexit vision in her Florence

speech at the end of September and that the Cabinet were united around this

stance.

In a somewhat garbled narrative May praised the effects of free markets, saying

that the free market "remains the greatest agent of collective human progress

ever created," and that the free market must be defended.

May struggled throughout the speech with her voice, enduring several coughing

fits and spells of hoarseness throughout, even a lozenge from the Chancellor

failed to alleviate these symptoms. May was also handed a P45 form by comedian

Lee Nelson, ostensibly from Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson that cited the

reason for termination as "neither strong nor stable". 

     May attempted to recover from the prank with the quip that she would like

to give a P45 to Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn, apeing a similar aphorism from

Johnson yesterday about how he would like to send Corbyn up in the first UK

space programme launch.

The prank will likely raise serious security concerns as to how Nelson was

allowed so close and how he managed to taunt May by waving the paper directly in

front of her for so long.

This brings to a close a somewhat underwhelming 2017 Conservative Party

Conference where Home Secretary Amber Rudd admitted that proceedings "started

off flat, we needed a bit of time to recover our mojo." Opinion seems divided as

to how the difficulties May endured during the speech will play. Supporters of

May praise her courage for continuing, while her critics adduce this as another

perceived failing.

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3809; email: kieran.williams@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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