Two cheers for May ... and none for Corbyn
The election campaign hasn’t officially begun yet, but yesterday in the Commons Theresa May gave us a sneak preview. Jeff Smith (Lab, Manchester Withington) asked her about cuts to school budgets. Mrs May replied that Mr Smith didn’t even think Jeremy Corbyn was good enough to be Labour leader – and so could hardly tell the public to make him prime minister.
Graham Jones (Lab, Hyndburn) also asked her about government cuts to school budgets. Mrs May replied that Mr Jones didn’t even think Jeremy Corbyn was good enough to be Labour leader – and so could hardly tell the public to make him prime minister.
Jenny Chapman (Lab, Darlington) asked her about government cuts to A&E wards and maternity services. Mrs May replied that Ms Chapman didn’t even think Jeremy Corbyn was good enough ... and so on.
I probably don’t need to tell you how Mrs May replied when Christian Matheson (Lab, City of Chester) asked about the national fair funding formula.
Though infuriated by this tactic, Labour MPs could hardly complain. Most don’t even pretend to support their leader and when he sat down after a speech proclaiming that Labour offered “a better future”, not one of his MPs cheered. The chamber was so quiet the Speaker asked Mr Corbyn to confirm that he had finished. Tories guffawed. The day’s main business was the debate on whether to accept Mrs May’s demand for an election. The exchanges weren’t especially heated. MPs on all sides seemed resigned to the result – a bit, I suppose, like the election itself. David Winnick (Lab, Walsall North) said the Tories shouldn’t be complacent about winning a landslide, and that “hopefully” they wouldn’t “receive such a large majority”. Yes, that’s the spirit. Even so, most Labour MPs agreed that the election might as well go ahead. After all, said Jim Dowd (Lab, Lewisham West & Penge), it would seem “rather bizarre” if Labour voted not to have an election, because that would be like saying: “We want to keep this Tory Government in power.”
But, interrupted Angus MacNeil (SNP, Western Isles), how confident was he that there wouldn’t still be a Tory Government after the election?
After 90 fairly tepid minutes the vote took place. The Speaker confirmed the result: 522 MPs had voted to have the election; only 13 had voted against. There was a curious silence, followed, from the Tory benches, by a sluggish “Yeeeearrrgh”.
You know, maybe they aren’t much more excited by this election than the rest of us.