British Prime Minister Theresa May on Brexit, and #MeToo
Theresa May is only the second woman to have served as the United Kingdom's prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher. "CBS This Morning" co-host John Dickerson visited May at her official residence at 10 Downing Street in London for her only interview ahead of the U.N. General Assembly this week in New York City.
We asked her about the #MeToo movement, as well as the intense fight she faces at home and across the European Union over Brexit.
To read Part 1 of Dickerson's interview with May click here.
On Brexit:
JOHN DICKERSON: You are engaged in trying to manage the U.K. from withdrawing from the European Union, probably the biggest thing that Great Britain has been through since World War II. You had a rebuke from the EU. The British papers, which are a little more peppery than the ones in the States, said that they "twisted the knife." The word "humiliated" was used repeatedly. Did you feel humiliated by the way the EU treated your proposal?
THERESA MAY: What I felt yesterday was that we have put forward a credible proposal. If we're going to ensure that we have that good trading relationship in the future but also that we protect the interests of people in Northern Ireland, you know, these have been long-fought, long-worked over and developed.
DICKERSON: But you didn't feel humiliated by the way they treated you?
MAY: No. What I felt was that I think there's a plan on the table from us. If they have issues with it, let's hear what those issues are.
DICKERSON: What personal toll does this fight take on you? Somebody in The New Yorker was quoted as saying that you are in the position of being as if you were in Little Ease, which was the prison chamber in the Tower where you could neither sit, nor lie down, nor stand up. Is that an accurate description what this is, going through?
MAY: No, I hadn't heard that one before! But I have to say I'm not sure It feels like that at all. No. Look, every prime minister is faced with different challenges – domestically, globally. There's a particular issue that we're dealing with alongside others. There's a lot of focus on the Brexit issue. And, of course, this is important. It's a historic moment for the U.K. leaving the European Union. But there's much else that we're dealing with as well.
DICKERSON: The French president said, "Brexit is the choice of the British people pushed by those who predicted easy solutions. ... Those people are liars." What's your response to that?
MAY: I've never said that this was going to be an easy process. These are tough negotiations. And, you know, as we enter the final straits of those negotiations, of course it becomes in many ways even tougher because we're closer to the end point.
On gender and politics:
DICKERSON: Women leaders in one way or another acknowledge that they face a different standard. Do you experience that?
MAY: Well, I've always – throughout my political career – I've always believed that it's not right to say, "Well, I'm a woman, I am doing this," but actually just to say, "What's the job? And what do I need to do? And let's just get on and do it." The one thing where we do face a slight difference is, of course, that rather more attention is paid to our clothes than perhaps to the male leaders.
DICKERSON: Yes. In America there is a #MeToo movement – in politics, in corporations, in media. What do you make of that? And has that been anything you've ever experienced?
MAY: I've never experienced that. But I have heard, you know, I think this question of what I would call the abuse of power is a real one which the #MeToo movement has uncovered. And we see many people coming forward, obviously, with the experiences that they've had in the past. I want a situation where actually we don't see that effective abuse of power, that we actually see people able to feel comfortable in their employment, to feel comfortable in their relationships, and not fear and not worry about what might be going to happen to them.
DICKERSON: And when they come forward, they should be listened to?
MAY: When they come forward, they should be listened to. And I can only say "thank you" to those women who have come forward. Because it can't have been easy to do that. They were brave to do it.
DICKERSON: Prime Minister, thank you so much.