British public overwhelmingly support Theresa May’s call for other parties to propose policy

It’s been a rough few weeks for Theresa May.

As she attempts to re-launch her premiership with a hotly anticipated speech today, the Prime Minister is facing a new round of ridicule over her appeal to opposition parties for help navigating Brexit.

The PM is expected to call on Jeremy Corbyn and other opposition figures to “contribute and not just criticise” in a departure from her adversarial governing style.

The Prime Minister’s rationale for calling June’s election was her claim that opposition parties were attempting to derail Brexit by introducing unwelcome amendments and votes in Parliament.

Now she is asking them to do just that.

But just as the British public dealt May a shock setback at the ballot box last month, so they seem to be going against the Westminster consensus again.

A new YouGov poll has found that a nice 69% think May’s proposal is a good idea. Conservative voters are even more supportive, with 78% expressing support for the embattled Prime Minister’s latest gambit.

There is also support, although to a lesser extent, for the formation of a national government to tackle Brexit – with only a third of Britons polled saying they didn’t support the idea.

It may well be that the British public thinks it’s a good idea for May’s rivals to propose policy as they no longer have confidence in her minority Tory government leading Britain successfully for the next few years, but the results show that there could be widespread support for such a move.

May’s attempts to get a handle on Brexit talks have hit numerous obstacles.

She has come under repeated fire over her approach to the citizenship of EU nationals.

Her “no deal is better than a bad deal” approach has also been condemned from politicians from all sides, leaving her under increasing pressure to avoid a so-called “cliff-edge” Brexit.

Last week, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, said Mrs May still doesn’t appear to understand how the Brexit negotiations will unfold.

There is “no reasonable justification” for Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal, he said.

Most recently, Dominic Cummings, a key figure in the Leave campaign, said on Monday that Conservatives were “morons” for attempting to drag the UK out of Euratom, the European nuclear safety and cooperation agreement.