Media 16 October 2018 9 reasons why The Sun’s comparison of Theresa May to Boudicca is… unfortunate She led Britain to a catastrophic defeat by Europeans, destroying large parts of it in the process. All photos: Media Mole Queen of the damned. Sign UpGet the New Statesman\'s Morning Call email. Sign-up Theresa May’s former adviser and the world’s most amplified election loser Nick Timothy has urged the Prime Minister to follow Celtic queen Boudicca’s example, in his column for The Sun. Photoshopping the PM onto a statue of apparently the only woman in power men can think of (died c.AD 60), The Sun headlines the piece: “It’s your Boudicca moment, Theresa”. Quoting a friend who said the PM needs “to discover her inner Boudicca”, Timothy writes that “the ancient British queen rose up against the Roman Empire, winning battles, slaughtering enemies and forcing the Romans to contemplate leaving Britain all together”. Note the word “contemplate”. While Timothy acknowledges that Boudicca was “eventually defeated”, he writes this off as an irrelevant aside – “whatever the details, my friend was right”. Perhaps he was, Nick, perhaps he was: 1 Boudicca was catastrophically defeated In a devastating battle succumbing to Roman rule in Britain, Boudicca’s army was comprehensively defeated, with 80,000 killed, according to Roman historian Tacitus. 2 She destroyed London In the build-up to the battle, Londinium was burnt to the ground and all remaining inhabitants were killed. 3 She destroyed Essex Well, the town of Colchester – then the capital of Roman Britain. 4 She destroyed the commuter belt Her warriors destroyed St Albans, of Hertfordshire – then known as Verulamium. 5 She was complacent about winning So sure were the Britons that they’d win, their families – including women and children – were stationed in a crescent of wagons around the battle field to witness the expected overwhelming victory. They were massacred. 6 Her army was ill-equipped Despite heavily outnumbering the Romans, Boudicca’s rebels weren’t equipped properly to do battle. 7 She took her own life Boudicca poisoned herself after the defeat, according to Tacitus. 8 Europe ran Britain for 400 years afterwards Boudicca’s defeat led to Roman rule for almost four centuries. 9 Actually this is a very good analogy for Brexit Underprepared, complacent, over-confident, and entirely self-destructive? Well done, Nick Timothy. › What did we learn about Brexit at the party conferences? As it turns out, very little I'm a mole, innit.