Local Editor

As Britain's Home Secretary and the new leader of the Conservative Party, Theresa May is preparing to move into the Prime Minister's residence at 10 Downing Street on Wednesday; the long-time chief English interpreter for Mikhail Gorbachev says she takes up office "in the shadow of Thatcher" and lacks an explicit program.

"However, Theresa May is in a far more difficult situation right now, and it is hard for me to imagine how she is going to deal with it," added Pavel Palazhchenko, who used to interpret for Gorbachev during negotiations with Margaret Thatcher, among others.

Palazhchenko, who also served as a diplomat for the then-Soviet Foreign Ministry, also noted that, unlike Thatcher, May does not have any explicit program.

"Upon taking up office, Thatcher had a very clear ideological and tactical program for further achievements and targets. Thatcher pursued an ideology of a certain type of capitalism," he explained, adding that she deeply believed in her system's inherent advantages.

However, Palazhchenko noted that the nature of Britain's internal policy has already been shaped, and there is no need for any revision.

Britain's Home Secretary is responsible for the Home Office, which manages the internal affairs of England and Wales, as well as immigration and citizenship for the United Kingdom. It oversees security-related issues such as drugs, counter-terrorism, and ID cards. It is analogous to the interior ministries of many countries and shares characteristics with the US Department of Homeland Security.

Palazhchenko added that negotiations on Britain's exit from the EU might take over 2.5 years and that the final decision might not be even taken during May's premiership.

Nevertheless, the former interpreter said that Theresa May, as the second woman to serve as Prime Minister in British history, will be inevitably compared with Margaret Thatcher, who earned the nickname "Iron Lady."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team