国际英语资讯:Fired chancellor slams May for fallout of election disaster

LONDON, June 11 -- With confusion surrounding a deal to ensure the Conservatives can form a working government, former chancellor George Osborne Sunday strongly slammed British Prime Minister Theresa May over the snap election called by May, which resulted in the loss of the Conservative's majority in parliament.

Osborne was fired by May soon after she replaced David Cameron at 10 Downing Street a year ago.

In an interview Sunday, Osborne, who has now quit politics altogether after a short spell as a back bench MP, predicted May would leave Downing Street.

Osborne, now editor of the London Evening Standard newspaper, said May's days in Downing Street are numbered.

The snap general election called by May in the hope of securing a bigger majority in the House of Commons, instead saw the Conservatives emerging with insufficient seats to form a majority government.

Party managers turned to their allies in Northern Ireland, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who made two gains in Thursday's election to give them 10 seats at Westminster.

May announced the Conservatives and the DUP had worked out a working arrangement that would be enough to buoy her government, by giving May a narrow working majority of just two with her own 318 MPs plus the 10 DUP politicians.

The Sunday Telegraph reported that May's grip on power appears far from secure despite the potential deal with the DUP to support her in parliament.

May, meanwhile has the task of shoring up her position after losing her majority in an election described by some commentators as a political car crash.

In other developments Sunday, the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson issued a statement dismissing reports he was being encouraged to challenge May for her job.

Johnson had been a favorite to win the keys to Number 10 after Cameron quit, but he pulled out of the race.

A second big test for May will come early this week when she meets her backbench MPs at the House of Commons.

Defense Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has sought to clarify a potential deal with the DUP saying the arrangement would only apply to big issues such as the economy and security.

Critics of a deal have hit out at the DUP policies on things such as abortion laws and gay marriages, but in a media interview Fallon said: "It doesn't mean we now agree with all their views," he said.

In an interview Sunday, Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the main opposition Labour Party announced moves that could see him moving into Downing Street as the new prime minister.

He plans to urge all of the other parties in the Commons to join Labour to defeat the measures the Conservatives will unveil in their Queen's speech at the state opening of parliament in a week's time.

"We are ready and able to put forward a serious program which has great support in this country," said Corbyn.

Corbyn was given a major boost Sunday when a new poll by Survation gave Labour a five-point lead over the Conservatives following what has been universally described as a disastrous general election for May. When the snap election was called, polls put Labour more than 20 points behind May's Conservatives.