Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

How Theresa May plans to sneak policies past MPs

If Theresa May is in it for the ‘long term’, does this mean that she plans to do big things with her premiership? The Prime Minister promised a great deal when she stood on the steps of Downing Street over a year ago, but has so far delivered a snap election which messed up her chances of actually achieving what she promised. She now has to rely on a party which doesn’t share all of her values – the DUP – or the good will of Labour MPs who happen to support what she wants to do.

But this is all about May’s weakness in the House of Commons Chamber. She can still make as many changes as she wants to policies using secondary legislation. As I say in my magazine piece this week, Number 10 has worked out that this is the way to stop the government looking totally pointless and has told departments that if they want to do something and they can do it via secondary legislation, then they can go for it.

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