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| EU referendum: our panel on Jeremy Corbyn's Sky News appearance | EU referendum: our panel on Jeremy Corbyn's Sky News appearance |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Larry Elliott: ‘Corbyn looked about as comfortable as a hostage reading out a ransom demand’ | Larry Elliott: ‘Corbyn looked about as comfortable as a hostage reading out a ransom demand’ |
| At times, it was hard to tell which side Jeremy Corbyn was actually backing. During his 30 minutes answering questions on Sky News, he said the way Europe had handled the refugee crisis was appalling, opposed the free trade agreement Brussels is trying to negotiate with Washington as wholly wrong, condemned the way multinational corporations can exploit loopholes in employment law, and said he would not tolerate Europe attempting to prevent a future Labour government from fully renationalising the railways. | At times, it was hard to tell which side Jeremy Corbyn was actually backing. During his 30 minutes answering questions on Sky News, he said the way Europe had handled the refugee crisis was appalling, opposed the free trade agreement Brussels is trying to negotiate with Washington as wholly wrong, condemned the way multinational corporations can exploit loopholes in employment law, and said he would not tolerate Europe attempting to prevent a future Labour government from fully renationalising the railways. |
| When, towards the end of his appearance, the Labour leader said “I am not a lover of the European Union”, it was a statement of the blindingly obvious. | When, towards the end of his appearance, the Labour leader said “I am not a lover of the European Union”, it was a statement of the blindingly obvious. |
| Then again, Corbyn was never going to be the most convincing advocate for Britain remaining in the EU. As he was reminded by Sky’s Faisal Islam, he has a history of euroscepticism stretching back to 1975 when he voted in favour of coming out. Had this referendum been held before Corbyn became leader of the Labour party there is little doubt which side he would have supported. | Then again, Corbyn was never going to be the most convincing advocate for Britain remaining in the EU. As he was reminded by Sky’s Faisal Islam, he has a history of euroscepticism stretching back to 1975 when he voted in favour of coming out. Had this referendum been held before Corbyn became leader of the Labour party there is little doubt which side he would have supported. |
| As a result, it was hardly surprising that on Sky News Corbyn looked about as comfortable as a hostage reading out a ransom demand written by his kidnappers. That was despite the fact that his one outing before a live audience during the campaign was with young Londoners and was more of a light toasting than the grilling other politicians have received. | As a result, it was hardly surprising that on Sky News Corbyn looked about as comfortable as a hostage reading out a ransom demand written by his kidnappers. That was despite the fact that his one outing before a live audience during the campaign was with young Londoners and was more of a light toasting than the grilling other politicians have received. |
| From time to time, Corbyn realised that his job was to shore up support for the EU among Labour voters and expressed his support for a collective response to tax havens, the environment and refugees. But old habits die hard. Corbyn said he was for remain. But anybody watching could be forgiven for wondering which way he will actually vote on Thursday. | From time to time, Corbyn realised that his job was to shore up support for the EU among Labour voters and expressed his support for a collective response to tax havens, the environment and refugees. But old habits die hard. Corbyn said he was for remain. But anybody watching could be forgiven for wondering which way he will actually vote on Thursday. |
| John Harris: ‘He essayed the ambivalences and hesitations in the minds of thousands of hard-bitten urban lefties’ | John Harris: ‘He essayed the ambivalences and hesitations in the minds of thousands of hard-bitten urban lefties’ |
| “He’s not been doing very much, has he?” offered Sky’s Kay Burley. In fact, over the last few weeks, Corbyn has been up to rather more than the received media narrative of a leader gone awol would suggest: talking to audiences round the country and offering his singular take on the referendum, which has seemed increasingly tangential as the conversation has grown more heated and polarised. | “He’s not been doing very much, has he?” offered Sky’s Kay Burley. In fact, over the last few weeks, Corbyn has been up to rather more than the received media narrative of a leader gone awol would suggest: talking to audiences round the country and offering his singular take on the referendum, which has seemed increasingly tangential as the conversation has grown more heated and polarised. |
| What happened at Sky’s “rooftop restaurant” in the wake of parliament’s tribute to Jo Cox only compounded the sense of a schtick that is pretty much his alone. David Cameron is now banging on about Churchill and stagily making the case for Britain not being a country of quitters; Corbyn, by contrast, tumbled through TTIP, tax havens, rail nationalisation, Sports Direct and the EU’s state aid rules. All told, I quite liked it: he essayed the ambivalences and hesitations in the minds of thousands of hard-bitten urban lefties – and just about made the case for them voting remain. | What happened at Sky’s “rooftop restaurant” in the wake of parliament’s tribute to Jo Cox only compounded the sense of a schtick that is pretty much his alone. David Cameron is now banging on about Churchill and stagily making the case for Britain not being a country of quitters; Corbyn, by contrast, tumbled through TTIP, tax havens, rail nationalisation, Sports Direct and the EU’s state aid rules. All told, I quite liked it: he essayed the ambivalences and hesitations in the minds of thousands of hard-bitten urban lefties – and just about made the case for them voting remain. |
| The trouble is, those people are not really the issue in the Labour part of this referendum. As Corbyn’s minutes ticked on, I waited to find out whether an audience of young people might nonetheless produce a challenge to his position from someone representing the alienated working class voters who are refusing to toe the Labour line. An audience member called Ryan came the closest, but under pressure of time, the exchange never went anywhere. I wanted a reply from Corbyn with some kind of oomph: an impassioned tribute to the everyday contribution made by the droves of migrant workers demonised in recent weeks, perhaps. But it failed to materialise, an absence highlighted by his rambling closing statement and tendency to such formulations as “the quite frankly appalling situation we have at the present time”. | The trouble is, those people are not really the issue in the Labour part of this referendum. As Corbyn’s minutes ticked on, I waited to find out whether an audience of young people might nonetheless produce a challenge to his position from someone representing the alienated working class voters who are refusing to toe the Labour line. An audience member called Ryan came the closest, but under pressure of time, the exchange never went anywhere. I wanted a reply from Corbyn with some kind of oomph: an impassioned tribute to the everyday contribution made by the droves of migrant workers demonised in recent weeks, perhaps. But it failed to materialise, an absence highlighted by his rambling closing statement and tendency to such formulations as “the quite frankly appalling situation we have at the present time”. |
| Out in the fields, the kind of irate leavers I have met over the last three weeks would have been unmoved. Fortunately for Labour, they presumably have better things to do than watching Sky News on a Monday night. | Out in the fields, the kind of irate leavers I have met over the last three weeks would have been unmoved. Fortunately for Labour, they presumably have better things to do than watching Sky News on a Monday night. |
| Deborah Orr: ‘It was refreshing, hearing someone getting into the detail, instead of making endless referral to well-worn slogans’ | Deborah Orr: ‘It was refreshing, hearing someone getting into the detail, instead of making endless referral to well-worn slogans’ |
| Well, it took him a while to get started, and Corbyn was pretty shaky at first. He seemed unable to stop doling out insults. He thought people should start being “a bit kinder and a bit more intelligent”. He expected that in the next couple of days the public would “catch on and get interested”. In reply to a question about whether people grasped the meaning of the referendum, he vouchsafed that “I hope they do, but I somewhat doubt it”. He insisted that he was “not a member of the establishment” and wasn’t wearing a tie to prove it. But Corbyn did warm up. | |
| God, it was refreshing, hearing someone getting into the detail, instead of making endless referral to well-worn slogans, stock phrases and snark. Having hinted that he thought the public were idiots, unlike all those politicians who flatter to deceive and never stop telling us how clever we are, Corbyn actually talked as if he assumed people were indeed kind and intelligent, had caught on and become interested and did understand what the referendum was all about. | God, it was refreshing, hearing someone getting into the detail, instead of making endless referral to well-worn slogans, stock phrases and snark. Having hinted that he thought the public were idiots, unlike all those politicians who flatter to deceive and never stop telling us how clever we are, Corbyn actually talked as if he assumed people were indeed kind and intelligent, had caught on and become interested and did understand what the referendum was all about. |
| He was good in stating some of the things he thought were wrong with Europe – the shielding of tax havens, the blind eye turned to corporations exploiting loopholes in the law. He was good at explaining how some stuff – the environment, the refugee crisis – could only be solved trans-nationally. He took the time to outline TTIP, how it needed to be reformed and how those who lead the out campaign would happily sign it without such reform. | He was good in stating some of the things he thought were wrong with Europe – the shielding of tax havens, the blind eye turned to corporations exploiting loopholes in the law. He was good at explaining how some stuff – the environment, the refugee crisis – could only be solved trans-nationally. He took the time to outline TTIP, how it needed to be reformed and how those who lead the out campaign would happily sign it without such reform. |
| Corbyn emphasised that exploitative employers were the enemy, not migrant workers. He emphasised that warlords were the enemy, not refugees. But he didn’t do enough to close up the disconnect between the dreamer who longs for a better world and the struggling citizen who longs for a better feeling of stability and community. He’ll have pleased his friends. He may even have made a few. But Frightened of Tunbridge Wells wouldn’t have been impressed. | Corbyn emphasised that exploitative employers were the enemy, not migrant workers. He emphasised that warlords were the enemy, not refugees. But he didn’t do enough to close up the disconnect between the dreamer who longs for a better world and the struggling citizen who longs for a better feeling of stability and community. He’ll have pleased his friends. He may even have made a few. But Frightened of Tunbridge Wells wouldn’t have been impressed. |
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