AFP, London :Britain’s newspapers on Friday said new Prime Minister Theresa May had shown steel in her ruthless axing of the cabinet’s “old guard”.Some dailies focused on her promotion of state-educated MPs and reflected on outgoing prime minister David Cameron’s new life outside office.”May’s radical reshuffle stuns the old guard”, said The Guardian’s front page, with headshots of the six women she has appointed to cabinet posts.”Theresa May drew a decisive line under the Cameron era yesterday, with a sweeping reshuffle in which several of his key ministers were sacked and her handpicked team was rewarded with cabinet posts,” it said.In its editorial, the liberal daily said May had shown steel, but asked, “for what purpose?””This highly symbolic show of strength will have many unintended consequences,” it said.Ruthlessness and surprise are useful qualities for a prime minister, but they “count for little without clarity” about their purpose.”May axes Cameron allies in ruthless cabinet cull”, said The Times’ front page headline.Its editorial, entitled “May contain nuts”, said the new premier faced a difficult task in negotiating Brexit, but “instability at the heart of her cabinet” caused by bringing in “several explosive egos… will make it harder still”.Her reshuffle fell between continuity and a break, it said.”Mrs May had the daunting task of putting a party back together while simultaneously indicating a vision for doing the same to the country. She did not quite manage it.””Cabinet’s Brexit bloodbath” said the i newspaper, with pictures of six sacked ministers. “Ruthless May carries out most brutal reshuffle for half a century,” it said.Meanwile, Theresa May was heading to Scotland on Friday in her first visit as Britain’s new prime minister, stressing her bid to maintain UK unity after the Brexit vote.May was due in Edinburgh Friday afternoon for talks with Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who has threatened another referendum on Scottish independence following Britain’s seismic vote to leave the European Union.May took office on Wednesday after David Cameron stepped down as premier in the wake of the June 23 referendum.On Thursday, she completed a radical cabinet reshuffle, culling several of Cameron’s ministers after stunning world capitals by appointing the often undiplomatic Brexit spearhead Boris Johnson as foreign minister.The referendum result sent shockwaves around the world and sparked fears of an economic downturn, with Britain potentially facing exclusion from Europe’s single market — a key concern for Sturgeon.Scottish voters overwhelmingly backed staying in the EU and nationalist leader Sturgeon sees this as possible grounds for another independence referendum.
