LONDON 16 Sep (ANA) - Theresa May has said she gets "irritated" by the ongoing speculation over her position as prime minister.

 

In an interview to mark the six-month countdown to Brexit, Mrs May told the BBC the debate should be about the country's future rather than her own.

 

The prime minister's comments came days after Conservative MPs opposed to her Brexit plan met to discuss how and when they could force her to stand down.

 

The PM also criticised ex-foreign secretary Boris Johnson.

 

Mrs May said his language was "completely inappropriate" when he described her Brexit strategy as putting the UK in a "suicide vest".

 

The UK is due to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019, and the government's plan - agreed at Chequers in July - has sparked criticism from Brexiteer Tories as well as the EU.

 

About 50 Brexit-supporting members of the European Research Group (ERG) met on Tuesday to discuss a leadership challenge.

 

Asked if she would reassure the Tory party that she was not determined to go on and on, she told the BBC's Panorama programme: "I get a little bit irritated but this debate is not about my future. This debate is about the future of the people of the UK and the future of the United Kingdom.

 

"That's what I'm focused on and that's what we should all be focused on.

 

"It's ensuring that we get that good deal from the European Union which is good for people in the UK, wherever they live in the UK, that's what's important for us."

 

The prime minister also said the "bloody difficult woman" - a description of her by former Conservative chancellor Ken Clarke - was "still there".

 

But she added: "There's a difference between those who think you can only be bloody difficult in public, and those who think actually you bide your time, and you're bloody difficult when the time is right - and when it really matters."(ANA)

FA/ANA/16 September 2018-------