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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/global/blog/2016/nov/02/pmqs-verdict-jeremy-corbyn-theresa-may-serious-grown-up-exchange
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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| PMQs verdict: a satisfyingly serious and grown-up exchange | PMQs verdict: a satisfyingly serious and grown-up exchange |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Key points | Key points |
| Today’s exchange was almost wholly around benefits. Jeremy Corbyn recommended that the prime minister should “support British cinema” by going to see Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake during a series of questions about benefit sanctions, universal credit cuts and cuts to the employment support allowance for disabled people. He accused Theresa May of “imposing poverty on people” under the guise of helping them find work. In response, May said Labour was in favour of no sanctions and no obligation on claimants to prove they were unfit for work, and that the benefits system needed to also be fair to the people who pay for it. She said Labour had lost touch with its working-class support and the Tories were now the true party of the working classes. | Today’s exchange was almost wholly around benefits. Jeremy Corbyn recommended that the prime minister should “support British cinema” by going to see Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake during a series of questions about benefit sanctions, universal credit cuts and cuts to the employment support allowance for disabled people. He accused Theresa May of “imposing poverty on people” under the guise of helping them find work. In response, May said Labour was in favour of no sanctions and no obligation on claimants to prove they were unfit for work, and that the benefits system needed to also be fair to the people who pay for it. She said Labour had lost touch with its working-class support and the Tories were now the true party of the working classes. |
| Snap verdict | Snap verdict |
| A satisfyingly serious and grown-up exchange which did not really amount to a clear win for either Corbyn or May, but which did credit to them both. Corbyn used all six questions to ask about welfare, but he moved from one topic to another, with varying success. | |
| May was at her weakest at the start, when Corbyn asked about cuts to universal credit which were coming down the line and would effectively undo the tax credit cuts U-turn announced by George Osborne. But these calculations are complex, and hard to explain, and although May did not address the point at all, Corbyn did not drive his point hard home. | May was at her weakest at the start, when Corbyn asked about cuts to universal credit which were coming down the line and would effectively undo the tax credit cuts U-turn announced by George Osborne. But these calculations are complex, and hard to explain, and although May did not address the point at all, Corbyn did not drive his point hard home. |
| He was more passionate, and effective, on benefit sanctions, but at this point she may had a solid response which involved accusing Labour of being opposed to any form of sanction or fiscal discipline in welfare spending. Corbyn finished with a dignified plea on behalf of parents who had difficulty affording funeral costs for children who die, and this prompted a semi-consensual response from May, who said funding was already available. So, overall, a bit of a draw. | He was more passionate, and effective, on benefit sanctions, but at this point she may had a solid response which involved accusing Labour of being opposed to any form of sanction or fiscal discipline in welfare spending. Corbyn finished with a dignified plea on behalf of parents who had difficulty affording funeral costs for children who die, and this prompted a semi-consensual response from May, who said funding was already available. So, overall, a bit of a draw. |
| Memorable lines | Memorable lines |
| It’s time we ended this institutional barbarity against the most vulnerable people in the system. | It’s time we ended this institutional barbarity against the most vulnerable people in the system. |
| Jeremy Corbyn urges May to undo benefit sanctions. | Jeremy Corbyn urges May to undo benefit sanctions. |
| The Labour party is drifting away from the views of working-class people. It is this party that knows how to support them. | The Labour party is drifting away from the views of working-class people. It is this party that knows how to support them. |
| May accuses Labour of abandoning its core supporters | May accuses Labour of abandoning its core supporters |