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Politics / General Election

VIDEO: Stand-out moments from BBC’s Question Time special with Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May

By Sunday Post
June 3, 2017, 1:58 pm

LAST night, Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May faced a grilling from a Question Time audience ahead of next week’s General Election.

Here are six stand-out moments from the BBC 1 special featuring the two leaders.

Mrs May challenged on not agreeing to a head-to-head debate

A member of the audience accused the Prime Minister of ducking debates with Mr Corbyn, who was appearing separately on the programme after the PM refused to a head-to-head showdown.

But Mrs May insisted she was not avoiding debate, saying she preferred to answer questions direct from voters rather than arguing with fellow politicians.

Later, Mr Corbyn hit out at Mrs May’s refusal to debate with him on television, saying it was a “shame” that she had decided not to take part in a one-on-one.

 

Mr Corbyn forced to defend the Labour party’s failure to expel Ken Livingstone for allegedly anti-Semitic remarks

Mr Corbyn suggested that Mr Livingstone could face further investigation after the election – something which was not ordered by the disciplinary panel in April. A female audience member asked him how he could be trusted by voters if he would not act on Mr Livingstone.

The former London mayor avoided expulsion in April this year at a disciplinary hearing into his remarks linking Adolf Hitler and Zionism, but was suspended for a further year.

Mr Corbyn said: “He has been suspended and further investigations may or may not happen after the election. He is suspended from membership, but he is suspended so that investigation can take place.”

 

A woman struggled to hold back tears as she told Mrs May she had waited over a year for an appointment for NHS counselling

Mrs May was confronted by mental health patients who told her they had lost benefits due to failing Work Capability Assessments.

One woman, visibly upset, told the PM: “Let me tell you, I am partially sighted, I have mental health problems and other issues.

“I went into my assessment and I was asked in detail about suicide attempts and I came out crying because I was so upset because of the way I was treated by that nurse.

“And she came out after me because she had forgotten to measure my eyesight. She found time to insult me by asking for all these upsetting details.”

 

Mr Corbyn quizzed on whether the Labour manifesto is “just a letter to Santa Claus”

Audience member Jack Rouse was loudly applauded as he asked Mr Corbyn: “Is Labour’s manifesto a realistic wish list or is it just a letter to Santa Claus?”

The Labour leader responded: “I urge you to read it. I think it is a serious and realistic document that addresses the issues that many people in this country face and we’ve been brave enough to put it out there with all the policies that are in it.”

 

Mrs May admitted she does not know details about foreign aid to North Korea

Mrs May appeared not to know if the UK gave foreign aid to support programmes in North Korea when tackled on the issue by questioner and Tory supporter Robert Waite.

Asked if Britain was giving aid to North Korea, the PM said: “Well, the gentleman has suggested that it did. I don’t know the details of that.”

The PM defended the foreign aid budget, saying: “I think it is right that we say that we help those … people who are less well off than we are in those developing countries.”

 

Mr Corbyn faced heckles from the audience during nuclear weapon discussion

The Labour leader was heckled as he refused to say whether he would launch a retaliatory nuclear strike.
“I would view the idea of having to use a nuclear weapon as something that was resulting in a failure in the whole world’s diplomatic system,” he said.
“There has to be no first use, there has to be a process of engagement to bring about, ultimately, global nuclear disarmament. It’s not going to happen quickly, it’s not going to happen easily, but we have to have that wish.”
One audience member asked if he would “allow North Korea or some idiot in Iran to bomb us and then say ‘we’d better start talking’”.
Mr Corbyn said: “Of course not, that is why I made the point … about the need for president Obama’s agreement with Iran to be upheld, it’s quite important actually, and also to promote disarmament in Korea.”

And finally, sparks flew elsewhere before the debate began …

Boris Johnson called Labour’s national election coordinator Andrew Gwynne a “big girl’s blouse” on Sky News shortly before the BBC debate began.
Mr Johnson was being interviewed when Mr Gwynne came over and asked him why he would not go head-to-head with him. Mr Johnson then asked him to come and join him on camera, saying: “Come on then, you big girl’s blouse!”
The pair then proceeded to debate, and at one point with their arms around each other’s shoulders, Mr Gwynne fell forward and said to Mr Johnson: “Don’t be a pillock.”