Theresa May slams global rise of populist politicians

In her last major speech as British prime minister, Theresa May criticized the rise of populism and accused world leaders of embracing “the politics of division.”  

May criticized the “increasingly adversarial nature of international relations,” an apparent shot at leaders like President Trump and her former foreign minister Boris Johnson, although she said she was making a “general observation” about global politics in a question and answer session after the speech. May argued that populist politicians believe “power, unconstrained by rules, is the only currency of value.”

“They have embraced the politics of division; identifying the enemies to blame for our problems and offering apparently easy answers,” May, who will step down next week as prime minister, said Wednesday at her speech in central London. The BBC shared the above footage of the speech.

{mosads}May also called “absolutism” among world leaders “the opposite of politics at its best.” 

“It refuses to accept that other points of view are reasonable. It ascribes bad motives to those taking different views,” May said. 

May also quoted former President Eisenhower, who once wrote “People talk about the middle of the road as though it were unacceptable. … Things are not all black and white. There have to be compromises. The middle of the road is all of the usable surface. The extremes, right and left, are in the gutters.” 

The outgoing prime minister also cautioned members of her own conservative party, warning that it should not be “making promises you cannot keep, or by just telling people what you think they want to hear.”

May could be succeeded by Johnson, a British lawmaker and staunch Brexit leader.

The comments come amid continuing jabs between May and Trump. On Monday, May reportedly criticized Trump for his tweets telling Democratic congresswomen to “go back” to the “crime infested” countries they came from, calling the comment “unacceptable.” Last week, Trump called May “foolish” for not securing a Brexit deal