David Cameron's former aide Steve Hilton calls on Theresa May to resign over terror 'failures'

Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May
Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May Credit: REUTERS/Kevin Coombs

David Cameron's former director of strategy has called for Theresa May to resign over her record on security following Saturday's deadly terror attack in London.

Steve Hilton said the Prime Minister was "responsible for security failures" that led to the terror attacks in Westminster, Manchester and London Bridge.

He said Mrs May, who served as Home Secretary between 2010 and 2016,  should be "resigning not seeking re-election".

Mr Hilton, who worked for Mr Cameron during the Coalition Government,  tweeted: “Theresa May responsible for security failures of London Bridge, Manchester, Westminster Bridge. Should be resigning not seeking re-election”.

Responding to newspaper reports which suggested that Mrs May was sending a tough message to the security services in the wake of the London Bridge attack, Mr Hilton said: “Theresa May blame-shifting again. her spin doctors attack MI5, but she was in charge of them for years...”

Steve Hilton 
Steve Hilton 

He added: "I think her spin and carefully crafted language masks the reality that she doesn't know what she is doing."

Nadine Dorries, who is re-seeking election as a Tory MP, responded on Twitter: "Steve, you were part of the Cameron Obsorne Hilton trio in No10 It was you guys who gave each SOS their budget It was done on YOUR watch." 

Yesterday Mrs May declared "enough is enough" as she set out her plan to tackle terrorism. "We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are," she said.

Addressing the nation from outside Downing Street after the second terrorist attack during the election campaign, the Prime Minister said that internet companies had allowed terror to thrive by creating a "safe space" for extremism and called for international agreements to "regulate cyberspace".

Mrs May said Britain had been too tolerant of Islamist extremism, allowing copycat killers to repeat atrocities in the wake of the Westminster and Manchester attacks.

Mrs May said the country was "experiencing a new trend in the threat we face, as terrorism breeds terrorism and perpetrators are inspired to attack, not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots after years of planning and training, and not even as lone attackers radicalised online, but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack".

She went on: "Everybody needs to go about their lives as they normally would.

"Our society should continue to function in accordance with our values.

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