A gif has been taking the internet by storm. And it doesn’t portray Theresa May in the most positive of lights. But it maybe sums up her attitude to the Budget.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was asking May a question over the current Surrey Council scandal. As The Canary previously reported, the government allegedly offered Surrey Conservative Council leader David Hodge extra cash to ‘kill off’ a referendum on a council tax hike. The council originally floated a 15% increase in council tax to pay for its adult social care crisis. The tax hike would’ve embarrassed both Philip Hammond and Jeremy Hunt.
Wait, what?
But May seemingly found Corbyn’s line of serious questioning rather amusing:
What the hell is THIS supposed to be? #pmqs pic.twitter.com/8fsYZxCEqw
— News Thing (@NewsThing) March 8, 2017
Social media users instantly picked up on May’s over-gesticulating:
https://twitter.com/pmohagan/status/839456075946545153
Really?
Some people noted the rather ‘scary’ overtones of May’s laughing:
https://twitter.com/TomEden11/status/839454959611572225
Other people, meanwhile, pondered if it was amusing, or worrying:
https://twitter.com/TheMrTuray/status/839450548743057408
Some thought there were sinister forces at play:
https://twitter.com/LewisMckenzie94/status/839452758814011394
It’s not funny, May
But Corbyn’s question was regarding a very serious matter. Because it emerged yesterday that Surrey Council’s leader essentially admitted that there was a “sweetheart” deal between it and the government:
{FULL AUDIO} of the Surrey Council Tory Leader spilling the beans about the Tory sweetheart deal Theresa May denied pic.twitter.com/CzXQWWyc6c
— Tory Fibs (@ToryFibs) March 7, 2017
But like the Surrey debacle, May’s ‘laugh-it-off’ attitude will probably be in play for the budget itself. Which, if early indications are anything to go by, includes yet more austerity. Which is no laughing matter for the poorest in society.
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– Read more from The Canary on the Budget 2017.
Featured image via screengrab