Theresa May “constantly disappoints” because her Government is timid and unambitious, a former Tory minister has said.
Nick Boles tweeted it was time for the prime minister “to raise your game”, accusing her of not tackling issues such as underfunding the NHS, the housing crisis and the release of black cab rapist John Worboys from prison.
Boles, who held ministerial positions in David Cameron’s Government, tweeted: “There is a timidity and lack of ambition about Mrs May’s Government which means it constantly disappoints.”
His tweet came after the Government announced on Friday it would not launch a judicial review against the release of Worboys.
The Parole Board’s decision to release Worboys, who is thought to have targeted as many as 100 women, after just nine years has been roundly condemned by the public, but little is known about the decision was reached.
Justise Secretary David Gauke told the Commons on Friday morning “the bar for a judicial review is very high” and he believed there was “no reasonable prospect of success”.
“I know this will disappoint the victims in this case and members of this House given the crimes for which he has been convicted. On a personal level, candidly, I share those concerns,” he said.
Boles told The Guardian: “We need ministers to have the courage of their convictions and not be bamboozled by the advice of officials trying to justify the system.”
He told The Sun: “They need to pull their finger out... I want her to lead, be bold and definite. And I want her to let her Ministers be bold. It has to change.”
He told the paper the failure to challenge the Worboys decision was “too flipping wet”.
Boles, who returned to constituency work in September after a battle with cancer, told The Sun: “When I came back, I said we needed a new story, a new set of ambitions. I put it friendly terms, and I just feel we’re moving backward.”