Kate Bush: British PM Theresa May Is “The Best Thing That’s Happened to Us in a Long Time”
In recent weeks, Kate Bush has granted the press rare interviews in support of her new live album, Before the Dawn. The latest, with Canadian magazine Macleans, touches on politics, Bush’s concern for the environment, and her stance on gender equality issues. On the last point, Bush spoke in support of British prime minister Theresa May, who took the job this year when David Cameron resigned over the Brexit vote.
The interviewer asked Bush whether, having spoken in the past about “the fear of women’s power,” she felt that fear was stronger than ever in light of the U.S. election. Bush replied:
We have a female prime minister here in the UK. I actually really like her and think she’s wonderful. I think it’s the best thing that’s happened to us in a long time. She’s a very intelligent woman but I don’t see much to fear. I will say it is great to have a woman in charge of the country. She’s very sensible and I think that’s a good thing at this point in time.
Before taking the PM’s office, May made headlines for her hard anti-immigration policies as home secretary. Around the 2015 election, she was behind a campaign in which billboards demanding illegal immigrants “go home or face arrest” were stuck to advertising vans and driven around the country. She was also behind Tyler, the Creator’s controversial UK visa ban, which Tyler addressed in a song. He later argued he was “getting treated like a terrorist.”
May also raised the wage threshold for immigrants in the UK, meaning any non-EU immigrants earning less than £35,000 (or $43,000, almost 40% more than the average British salary) faced deportation. Although May tentatively supported Remain in the Brexit referendum, she had previously denounced the European Human Rights Act; in her subsequent leadership bid, she backtracked, admitting she didn’t have parliamentary support to scrap the act. She’s recently attracted criticism for pursuing a “hard” Brexit, despite lacking the mandate of an electoral victory.
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