Express & Star Comment: It’s time for the PM to get tough
Following this year's snap General Election, the vast majority of people in this country hoped that some semblance of normality would would return to the political landscape.
But instead, the Conservatives failure to gain an overall majority has been the catalyst for yet more political upheaval.
The folly of Theresa May's uncharacteristic gamble to call the June poll has been well documented, but few would have predicted the turmoil that has followed.
Two Cabinet reshuffles in successive weeks have left her Government looking weak.
Internal party bickering is increasingly taking place in full view of the public, thanks in no small measure to the shameless opportunism shown by the likes of Anna Soubry.
Meanwhile the Westminster sex scandal still hangs ominously over the Commons.
The knives are well and truly out for Mrs May.
Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has ridden in to play picadore, landing a flesh wound with his insistence that Jeremy Corbyn is ready to lead the country when the Government collapses.
Full marks to Mr Watson for attempting to capitalise on a bleak situation for the Tories, but we must remember that it was not so long ago that he was advising Mr Corbyn to step down.
Labour is operating under an illusory mask.
The impression given in public of a united party is one that all but the left wing press and the Corbynite broadcast media can see straight through.
The reality is a party where numerous talented politicians - including a fair few from the Black Country - have been sidelined in favour of the utterly clueless (Diane Abbott), the hopeless (Emily Thornberry) and the downright offensive (John McDonnell).
While these political pygmies lord it from the opposition's frontbench, Labour's best are forced to sit on their hands and hope for better days.
For the time being, Mr Corbyn and his cronies have effectively thrown a blanket over the party's rising stars.
Under his leadership Labour remains stained by anti-Semitism, and is increasingly being run by the hate-fuelled protest group Momentum.
Mrs May must take a strong hand and reorganise her MPs as a matter of urgency.
With Mr Corbyn waiting in the wings, the consequences of a Tory collapse could not be more serious.
