‘And unelected members of the House of Lords have vowed to fight us every step of the way.
‘Our opponents believe that because the government’s majority is so small, our resolve will weaken and that they can force us to change course.
‘They are wrong.
‘They underestimate our determination to get the job done and I am not prepared to let them endanger the security of millions of working people across the country.
‘Because what they are doing jeopardises the work we must do to prepare for Brexit at home, and it weakens the government’s negotiating position in Europe.
‘That is why I am calling for a general election on June 8th.’
When the PM had finished, Popov put his phone away, smiling with satisfaction. ‘Word perfect. Couldn’t have put it better myself,’ he said.
President Popov was in a reflective mood. ‘We may have thought Brexit was in the bag last June, Mickey, but we still needed to nail it. And that’s what Mabel Killick has done today. Of course, I will give her all the help she needs. I expect you will too. But frankly, I’d say, that at this point in time, she has it in the bag!’
Ching Ze-Dong was puzzled. His instructions had been very clear. ‘If Popov refuses Selkirk’s offer, use spider. If he accepts offer, leave spider in box.’
Oh dear, Ching thought, what should he do? The instructions might have been precise, but the problem was he couldn’t work out what answer Popov was actually giving in response to Selkirk’s intriguing proposal.
When Selkirk had offered him the job of president and CEO of Selkirk Global, Popov had just said, ‘Interesting. Very interesting indeed.’
But what did that mean? Did it mean ‘yes’, or did it mean ‘no’?
Ching took the little wooden box from the crate in the storeroom and shook it gently. Yes, the spider was still there. Just as well they had given him two, he thought.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Mrs Killick was well pleased by the slant the media put on her decision to call an election. ‘Strong and stable PM seeks personal mandate!’ The Daily News thundered. The London Echo printed a full-page photo of the PM with the caption ‘The New Iron Lady!’ The Selkirk Press went to town, offering unsubtle suggestions about the priorities she should pursue, apart from clinching Brexit. ‘Slash foreign aid’ and ‘Scrap environmental burdens’ being two of the most prominent.
Fred Malkin, as Conservative Party chairman, had been one of the very small group of people who knew in advance about Mabel Killick’s decision to call for a general election. He and his team would have a crucial job over the next few weeks before the vote on June 8th.
The day after her Downing Street announcement, Mrs Killick visited Conservative Party headquarters in Matthew Parker Street, Westminster, to rally the troops.
Ushered into a first-floor canteen by Fred Malkin, she told a cheering crowd of party workers, ‘We can’t take victory for granted. The Leader of the Opposition – what’s his name? – anyway, that miserable little worm – may dredge up some support somewhere. It will be our job to force him back into the gutter where he belongs.’
Later, she had a quiet word with Malkin in his office.
‘I know I took most people by surprise, Fred,’ she said, ‘calling the election when I did. That must have thrown out your financial calculations. How is the party off for funds? Do we have enough money to fight the election? I’m told that the Labour election war-chest is pretty full with all the new members they pulled in last year, and the same goes for the Lib Dems. How are we going to find the money? Apparently we need an extra £10 million at least just to get to the starting line.’
Malkin pulled a face. ‘Well, I agree. We hadn’t been planning on a 2107 election. We were going to build up a fighting fund for 2020, three years from now, when – under the Fixed Term Parliament Act – the election should have been called.’
‘So what are we going to do? Put out a special appeal?’ the PM asked.
‘I’m not sure that is going to work, Prime Minister,’ Malkin replied. ‘There are a lot of people out there who don’t seem to be as keen on having this election as you are. They seem to think they’ve had enough elections to be getting on with. I’m not sure how we are going to raise the funds.’
Mabel Killick hadn’t studied the Referendum dossier for nothing. She well remembered the message that Jeremy Hartley’s office had sent to Fred Malkin when they were discussing how much the Conservative Party would need to be paid if the Prime Minister promised to call a Referendum on Europe:
‘PM is prepared to settle for latest proposal, so we will aim to include appropriate reference in Bloomberg speech. Our friends are talking in terms of 10, possibly 12 M.’
‘What about the funds President Popov is alleged to have sent the Conservative Party?’ Mabel Killick asked.
Fred Malkin sighed. ‘Let’s be clear about this. As far as Jeremy Hartley was concerned, the exchanges he and I had about possible “cash for policy” donations to Conservative Party funds were totally fictitious. We included those exchanges in the Referendum dossier as part of the wider strategy of getting Edward Barnard on board as the chairman of the Leave campaign.’
‘Okay, I accept that Jeremy Hartley is totally in the clear,’ Mabel Killick replied, ‘but what about you, Fred, in your role as Party Chairman? You didn’t by any chance spot an opportunity to do a bit of freelance fund-raising for the Conservative Party? Set money aside for a rainy day? Like an early election, perhaps?’
‘Good heavens, Prime Minister!’ Fred Malkin exclaimed. ‘How could you suggest such a thing?’
CHAPTER FIFTY
Friday June 9th, 2017. 3:00a.m. Moscow time.
Igor Popov, president of the Russian Federation, and Galina Aslanova, newly appointed Director of the FSB, sat side by side on the sofa watching television in the den of the President’s dacha outside Moscow. Though it was well after midnight, neither had the slightest intention of going to bed. The news that night was simply too riveting.
Over in London, Louise Hitchcock, the BBC’s star political reporter, was assessing the results of the UK General Election where the polls had closed just hours earlier.
‘Though all the votes have not yet been counted, Prime Minister Mabel Killick’s election gamble looks to have backfired,’ she said. ‘It seems clear that the Conservatives’ hope of a landslide victory, or even a substantially increased majority, have evaporated, leaving the party scrabbling to hold on to power. Though the Conservatives are set to emerge as the largest party, the UK is heading for a hung parliament with no single party having an overall majority.’
‘What does she mean by “hung parliament?”’ President Popov asked. ‘Who are they going to hang?’
‘They’ll probably want to hang Mrs Killick,’ Galina Aslanova said. ‘They may not do it straight away, but sooner or later the knives will come out.’
‘And will Miles Pomfrey, the Labour leader, take over? He seems to have done much better than expected,’ Popov asked.
‘Not necessarily,’ Galina replied. ‘There may have to be another election later in the year, but for the time being it looks as though Mrs Killick will try to cling on to power.’
President Popov poured himself another glass of Glenmorangie. ‘You know, Galina, I rather like what I’m hearing. Of course, I would have preferred Mrs Killick to win. Achieving Brexit was one of the main goals of Operation Tectonic Plate, as we know, and she was very determined to do it. But there are different ways of skinning a cat.’