Theresa May has kicked off the Tory general election campaign with a remarkably punchy statement in Downing Street. She accused the European Commission of trying to interfere in the UK general election. She said that the hardening of the Commission’s negotiating stance and the leaks of recent days ‘had been deliberately timed to affect the result of the general election that will take place on 8 June.’ She added that there were those in Brussels who did not want to see the UK prosper.
May’s charge takes us into new territory. I can’t recall a British Prime Minister accusing an allied power, let alone a group the UK is still a member of, of trying to interfere in our elections before. But it is an illustration of how furious the May team are about the Downing Street dinner leak; which was jaw-droppingly provocative from the Commission side.
But there is also political calculation here.
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