Tories in trouble

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After a massive fire killed 17 people and consumed an apartment building yesterday in London, British Prime Minister Theresa May and her government are facing a fresh barrage of criticism.
May has ordered a public inquiry into the incident, as questions were raised about what officials knew about safety conditions at the apartment tower before the fatal blaze. [NYT / Dan Bilefsky]
Labour Party politicians have accused Tory ministers of not heeding prior warnings about fires at other apartment complexes in London, or putting recommended safety measures in place. [The Guardian / Frances Perraudin and Matthew Weaver]
May was already in a precarious spot politically, having just suffered the results of a bruising snap election where the rival Labour Party picked up plenty of seats and robbed May’s Tories of a decisive majority. [Vox / Zack Beauchamp]
May called the snap election in hopes of picking up a large Conservative majority in Parliament, so that she would be able to better negotiate Brexit, but her party was left with fewer seats than they had before. [BuzzFeed / James Ball]
Brexit negotiations are starting on Monday, when Britain and the European Union will start negotiating the cost of the UK’s exit and new trade partnerships. [BBC]
May is clinging to power by a thread, with help from the socially conservative and traditionalist Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (also known as the DUP). The Tories and DUP are still in talks about what their alliance will look like, and the final deal will likely include financial aid for Northern Ireland, as well as assurance of no referendum on unifying Northern Ireland (which is part of the UK) with the Republic of Ireland (an EU member). [The Guardian / Alan Travis]
But even the DUP is asking May to pump the brakes on Brexit, favoring a “soft” exit rather than the clean break she is proposing. In the wake of last week’s election, they’re not the only ones. [Washington Post / Griff Witte and Karla Adam​]



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