JOHNSON VERSUS CORBYN
PM WINS DEBATE 51% TO 49%, SAYS POLL
AN INSTANT poll showed Boris Johnson won the first TV election debate last night by the narrowest of margins.
The YouGov survey, conducted among viewers during the broadcast on ITV, indicated that 51 per cent thought the PM did best while 49 per cent preferred Jeremy Corbyn.
The poll saw both men score clear wins on individual issues with Mr Johnson ahead by 54 per cent to 29 on who looked most prime ministerial, and Mr Corbyn appearing more trustworthy by 45 per cent to 40.
The Labour leader also scored highest on who was most in touch with ordinary people by 59 per cent to 25 but fell behind Mr Johnson on likeability by 37 per cent to 54.
During the fast-moving debate, Mr Johnson accused his rival of offering ‘absurd dither and delay’ over Brexit.
But he was ridiculed by the Labour leader for promising a quick departure from the EU, with negotiations having already dragged on for years.
Mr Johnson repeatedly vowed to get Brexit done and urged Mr Corbyn to say if he would back Leave or Remain if he is elected and keeps his promise of holding a fresh referendum.
Mr Corbyn would only say that he would put the question to the people.
Mr Johnson said: ‘If you vote for us, we have a deal ready to go, approved by every one of our 635 Conservative election candidates. As soon as we get that deal through parliament, as we can in the next few weeks, we can get on with the people’s priorities.’
Mr Corbyn warned the PM could not deliver on what he was promising.
‘That idea that Boris Johnson’s deal can be dealt with and finished by the end of January is such nonsense,’ he said. ‘What he is proposing is a trade deal with the US which will take at least seven years to negotiate, whilst at the same time saying he will negotiate a special trade deal with the EU. The two things are actually incompatible.’
Mr Corbyn produced what he said was a ‘heavily redacted’ transcript of government trade talks promising full market access for US firms to the NHS. But Mr Johnson insisted there were ‘no circumstances’ in which he would put the NHS ‘up for sale’.
He challenged Mr Corbyn to rule out holding a referendum on Scottish independence and warned of a coalition of chaos between Labour and the SNP.
‘We’ve had nine years of chaotic coalition already,’ Mr Corbyn snapped.
Amid the furore over Prince Andrew’s links to paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, host Julie Etchingham asked both the leaders if they thought the monarchy was fit for purpose. ‘It needs a bit of improvement’, Mr Corbyn said, while the PM insisted: ‘The institution of monarchy is beyond reproach.’
At the end of the programme, they were asked what Christmas present they would give each other.
‘I know he likes a good read,’ said Mr Corbyn. ‘So what I would leave is A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens – so he could then understand how nasty Scrooge was.’
Mr Johnson initially suggested a copy of his ‘brilliant Brexit deal’, but then offered him some ‘damson jam’. ‘He doesn’t even want my damson jam,’ he said sadly.