SHAKE ON IT: ELECTION RIVALS PLEDGE TO TACKLE ‘NASTINESS IN POLITICS’
Johnson and Corbyn take part in first TV debate Both politicians resort to familiar lines of attack
SHOW OF HANDS: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn shook hands and agreed to work together to tackle “nastiness in politics” during a head-to-head televised debate last night. The pair were asked by ITV host Julie Etchingham to “make a gesture” towards one another after what she described as a hostile political environment. A YouGov snap poll after the debate showed the country remained divided, with 51 per cent of Britons asked believing Mr Johnson won the debate compared to 49 per cent for Mr Corbyn.
LITTLE WAS learned from a head-to-head debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn last night, as laughter and jeering from the audience for both leaders dominated the ITV show.
In the first TV debate of this election campaign, Mr Corbyn dismissed Mr Johnson’s pledge to “get Brexit done” by the end of January as “nonsense”.
While the Prime Minister warned the UK faced more “dither and delay” under a Labour government.
However neither party leader revealed anything which had not been previously said, and both stuck mainly to lines the public will have heard many times over on the NHS and austerity. Mr Corbyn was greeted with laughter when he spoke on Labour’s policy to introduce a four-day week,
while Mr Johnson got the same treatment when he said the truth was important to him. Mr Johnson said a vote for the Conservatives would be a vote to finally “get Brexit done”. But Mr Corbyn retorted that he could not deliver on what he was promising.
“That idea that the Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s deal can be dealt with and finished by the end of January is such nonsense,” he said.
Both were asked about their personal character. Directed to answer about anti-Semitism complaints against the Labour Party, Mr Corbyn said: “AntiSemitism is an absolute evil and scourge within our society.
“Racism in any form is a scourge in our society. I have taken action in my party where anyone who has committed any anti-Semitic acts or made any anti-Semitic statements, they either suspended or expelled from the party and investigated every single case. We do take this very, very seriously indeed.”
When asked about “telling the truth in politics”, Mr Johnson attacked Mr Corbyn’s leadership and said: “It’s a complete failure of leadership what’s happened with anti-Semitism.
“But the failure of leadership is even worse when you look at what is happening on their Brexit policy.”
One of the questions from the audience came from a woman named Sue from Leeds, who asked if the monarchy was fit for purpose, Mr Corbyn replied: “Needs a bit of improvement.”
Mr Johnson said: “The institution of the monarchy is beyond reproach.”
Asked if the Duke of York is fit for purpose, Mr Corbyn said: “Before we discuss Prince Andrew I
think we should discuss the victims that are there because of what (Jeffrey) Epstein was doing.”
Mr Johnson said “all our sympathies” should be with the victims of Epstein, adding: “The law must certainly take its course.”
IF BORIS Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn cannot have a civilised TV debate over the complex challenges facing the country, and answer a simple question about trust, how on earth do they expect to unite Britain after December 12?
This was illustrated by the incredulity of the studio audience, and ITV’s equally exasperated presenter Julie Etchingham, when both men were put on the spot about integrity, personal responsibility and if the truth still matters in this election. What an indictment against them.
The awkwardness of their handshake, when challenged to commit to improve the conduct of politics, could not have been further removed from the first leaders’ debate in 2010 when David Cameron and Gordon Brown assiduously courted Nick Clegg by repeatedly saying ‘I agree with Nick’.
Looking back, the aftermath of the global financial crash was a relatively benign political period compared to today’s divisiveness that has been fuelled by Brexit, and the polarisation of politics, as both parties lurch away from the centre ground.
Not only is there a nasty and spiteful under-current to the campaigning of today – there are still lessons to be learned from the ‘more in common’ mantra articulated by Batley and Spen MP Jo Cox before her murder in 2016 – but a relentless negativity after the PM, and Mr Corbyn, repeatedly ducked questions about their own policies.
A general election should be a time of national renewal – one which offers hope for the future once the political reset button has been pressed by the electorate. However, if this debate was indicative of the state of the country and calibre of leadership on offer, there is now a very real prospect that Britain will be left even more divided by Mr Johnson and Mr Corbyn’s inability to show the statesmanship and conciliation that these times, and Brexit, demand.