PMQs verdict: May sees off Corbyn over Brexit

Key points

Jeremy Corbyn devoted his six questions to Theresa May’s speech on Tuesday setting out her plan for Brexit. He asked why, given that Britain’s jobs, living standards and future prosperity were at stake, her speech was not delivered in parliament. He appealed to May to stop her threat of “a bargain basement Brexit”, which would reduce Britain to a tax haven off the shores of the EU. May retorted by quoting Corbyn saying that, like her, he wanted access to the single market, and concluded: “I have a plan, he doesn’t have a clue.”

Corbyn followed up by saying that May had threatened to slash corporation tax if Britain did not get a deal on Brexit, which would cost the country £120bn. How would she fund public services? May replied that she had said during the remain campaign that if Britain left the EU the sky would not fall in, but Labour’s plans, including a maximum wage cap, would result in “no jobs, no wages and no skills”.

The Labour leader replied that May was refusing to answer how much the UK would have to pay for access to the single market, and pointed out that thousands of workers from the EU are employed in Britain’s public services – including 55,000 by the NHS. Public services are under pressure from her cuts in the social care budget, not from migration, he said.

May responded that workers would still come to Britain from the EU, but that the nation would be making its own decisions over migration. As a parting shot, she said: “When I look at Brexit, I consider the issue, I set out my plan and I stick to it – it’s called leadership, he should try it some time.”

Snap verdict

Perhaps Corbyn should stick to the NHS. Of course, that wasn’t really an option today, in the light of the huge interest in May’s Brexit speech, but having done well on health and social care in recent PMQs he came slightly unstuck when he tried to dismantle her speech with six questions all focused on Europe. His point about May snubbing parliament was true, but a process point of little interest to people outside Westminster, and his “Irony Lady” line was groan-inducing. (He should just have nicked the line that Labour MP Stephen Doughty used yesterday about May and how “the lady’s not for turning up”.) His point about corporation tax and May’s threat to turn the UK into a offshore tax haven was a good one, but then he got sidelined into slightly obtuse questions about payments to the EU, where May’s reply (there will be payments for single market access, even if she is not saying how much they will be) was unusually direct by PMQs standards.

May seemed more confident than at previous PMQs, and her mockery of Corbyn’s response to her speech on Tuesday was effective. She will be satisfied that she saw Corbyn off.

Memorable lines

“Restoring parliamentary democracy while sidelining parliament? She’s not so much the Iron Lady as the Irony Lady.” – Jeremy Corbyn on Theresa May snubbing parliament and the Brexit committee’s call for a white paper.

“I’ve got a plan, he doesn’t have a clue.” – May, after quoting Corbyn saying that Labour wants access to the single market after Brexit.

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