Labour leader not ready for Brexit talks, says May
THERESA May launched an assault on Jeremy Corbyn’s credibility as the Labour leader struggled with the cost of a key manifesto commitment.
The Prime Minister sought to get back on the front foot after the U-turn on social care and the Manchester bombing pushed her campaign off course, claiming Mr Corbyn was “simply not ready to govern and not prepared to lead”.
Meanwhile, the Labour leader apologised after a difficult broad- cast interview saw him repeatedly fail to provide the cost of Labour’s childcare policy.
During an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, he paused several times when asked to give a cost for the pledge to roll out free care to all two to four-year-olds, before asking: “Can we come back to that in a moment?”
Mrs May had Mr Corbyn in her sights as she launched a personal attack on his record and ability during a speech in Wolverhampton. In an effort to get back to her key election messages of leadership and Brexit, she said Mr Corbyn was not prepared for the crunch talks with Brussels that will start within days of the general election and would find himself “alone and naked” in the talks.
Looking back at Mr Corbyn’s performance when questioned by Jeremy Paxman and a studio audience in Monday night’s televised showdown, Mrs May said: “He is not prepared to use the nuclear deterrent. He is not prepared to take action against terrorists. He is not prepared to give the police the powers they need to keep us safe.
“He is not prepared to take a single difficult decision for the good of our economy. He is not prepared to answer questions about his long track record of supporting people who want to harm and even attack our country. And with Brexit negotiations due to begin only 11 days after polling day, he is not prepared for those negotiations.”
Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn was attempting to focus on policy issues with the commitment to the extension of free childcare, but his own performance was firmly in the spotlight after the Woman’s Hour interview.
Despite having a copy of the manifesto and apparently logging on to his iPad for help as he was pressed to give the cost for the policy, it was left to presenter Emma Barnett to provide the Opposition’s estimate of the £4.8bn annual price tag by 2022.
Answering questions on the interview at a campaign event in Watford, Mr Corbyn said: “I didn’t have the exact figure in front of me, so I was unable to answer that question, for which obviously I apologise.
“But I don’t apologise for what’s in the manifesto and I will explain exactly what the cost is.
“It will cost £4.8bn by the end of the Parliament and it means that one million children will get childcare, free childcare 30 hours per week between the years of two and four.”