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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| PMQs verdict: good May performance – but not one for history books | PMQs verdict: good May performance – but not one for history books |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Key points | Key points |
| Both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn condemn Tuesday’s deadly attack in Strasbourg. | Both Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn condemn Tuesday’s deadly attack in Strasbourg. |
| Corbyn then asks May to tell MPs what changes she has secured to her Brexit deal? May says she listened to concerns in the house and that’s why she travelled to Europe but accuses Corbyn of planning to vote against whatever she brings back. All he wants to do is create chaos in our society and damage to the economy. | Corbyn then asks May to tell MPs what changes she has secured to her Brexit deal? May says she listened to concerns in the house and that’s why she travelled to Europe but accuses Corbyn of planning to vote against whatever she brings back. All he wants to do is create chaos in our society and damage to the economy. |
| Corbyn says it is clear that “nothing has changed”. He asks whether she can then confirm that the debate on her Brexit deal will be concluded and the result voted on before the Christmas recess. | Corbyn says it is clear that “nothing has changed”. He asks whether she can then confirm that the debate on her Brexit deal will be concluded and the result voted on before the Christmas recess. |
| May says there is an EU council meeting and more discussions to be had. The date of the vote will be announced in the normal way. But she says we had a meaningful vote, it was the referendum. And if he wants a date, it’s 29 March, when Britain will leave the European Union. | |
| Corbyn, raising his voice, says this is disgraceful. The house agreed a date for a vote. The government has already been found to be in contempt of parliament. Now May is contemptuous of parliament. | Corbyn, raising his voice, says this is disgraceful. The house agreed a date for a vote. The government has already been found to be in contempt of parliament. Now May is contemptuous of parliament. |
| Corbyn says May promised certainty wherever possible. Does this look like certainty? May says she has provided that. She has got an agreement. No one in the EU was left in any doubt about feelings in the Commons. Corbyn’s policy is to stay in the EU, she says. | |
| Corbyn says if there is an agreement why won’t she put it to a vote in the house. He asks May to categorically rule out a no-deal Brexit. | Corbyn says if there is an agreement why won’t she put it to a vote in the house. He asks May to categorically rule out a no-deal Brexit. |
| May says the way to ensure there is no no-deal is to agree a deal. She says Labour wants to change the law so that trade unions can go on strike in solidarity with strikers anywhere in the world. That is not solidarity with small businesses, or ordinary working people. | May says the way to ensure there is no no-deal is to agree a deal. She says Labour wants to change the law so that trade unions can go on strike in solidarity with strikers anywhere in the world. That is not solidarity with small businesses, or ordinary working people. |
| Corbyn says May has failed to rule out no deal. He says a former minister says a customs union with the EU could be the basis for consensus. When will she work to find one? | Corbyn says May has failed to rule out no deal. He says a former minister says a customs union with the EU could be the basis for consensus. When will she work to find one? |
| May says one group that does not want a consensus is Labour. The party has no plan, and want no Brexit, she says. | May says one group that does not want a consensus is Labour. The party has no plan, and want no Brexit, she says. |
| Corbyn says the time for dithering and delay is over. May has negotiated a deal. There can be no more excuses. She must put it before parliament, and let’s have the vote. He says May has already been found to be in contempt of parliament. Will she call the vote and halt this “escalating crisis”? | Corbyn says the time for dithering and delay is over. May has negotiated a deal. There can be no more excuses. She must put it before parliament, and let’s have the vote. He says May has already been found to be in contempt of parliament. Will she call the vote and halt this “escalating crisis”? |
| May says, whatever U-turn comes next in Labour’s policy, Corbyn will send out his henchmen to reveal it to the world – the “inconstant gardener”. Someone will explain the joke to Corbyn later, she says. | May says, whatever U-turn comes next in Labour’s policy, Corbyn will send out his henchmen to reveal it to the world – the “inconstant gardener”. Someone will explain the joke to Corbyn later, she says. |
| Tories cheer loudly. | Tories cheer loudly. |
| May says Corbyn couldn’t care less about Brexit. He wants to bring down the government, sow division and crash the economy. The biggest threat to people isn’t leaving the EU; it’s a Corbyn government. | May says Corbyn couldn’t care less about Brexit. He wants to bring down the government, sow division and crash the economy. The biggest threat to people isn’t leaving the EU; it’s a Corbyn government. |
| Snap verdict | Snap verdict |
| Some of the most famous footage of Margaret Thatcher in the House of Commons is from the speech she gave in the no confidence vote as she was stepping down. (It was the one where Dennis Skinner suggested she should be be governor of the European Central Bank, and Thatcher said at one point: “I’m enjoying this.”) It was a virtuoso performance, loudly cheered by Tory MPs - the same Tory MPs who had just voted her out of office (by not backing her in large enough numbers). Theresa May’s performance today wasn’t quite in the same league, but there were some similarities: a slightly swaggering performance at the dispatch box, enthusiastic cheering from the government benches, and a striking disconnect between the public performance and the actual reality. (At least when Labour MPs were trying to boot Jeremy Corbyn out, they were honest enough not to cheer him in the House of Commons; they can’t match the Tories for duplicity.) It was a good performance from May, which will help her with the only audience that really matters today (the 315 Tory MPs voting this evening), although not one for the history books. Corbyn would have done better if he had focused on some difficult “wedge” questions that would have caused problems for May with Tory MPs still weighing up how to vote, such as. are you 100% committed to lead your party into the next general election? There was one question of this kind, when he asked May to rule out a no-deal Brexit, but it wouldn’t have been hard to produce more. (The question about Priti Patel from Jim McMahon was another good example; that provoked an answer that will annoy theEuropean Research Group of Tory MPs.) Corbyn seemed more angry than usual, and the points he made about how outrageous it is that May will not even put her Brexit deal to a vote were entirely reasonable. But it felt like an argument for another day. | |
| Memorable lines | Memorable lines |
| Theresa May: | Theresa May: |
| We’ve had a meaningful vote, we had it in the referendum in 2016. And if he wants a meaningful date, I’ll give him one – 29 March 2019, when we leave the European Union. | We’ve had a meaningful vote, we had it in the referendum in 2016. And if he wants a meaningful date, I’ll give him one – 29 March 2019, when we leave the European Union. |
| Jeremy Corbyn: | Jeremy Corbyn: |
| The time for dithering and delay is over. The prime minister has negotiated her deal; she has told us it’s the best and only deal available. There can be no more excuses, no more running away, put it before parliament and let’s have the vote. | The time for dithering and delay is over. The prime minister has negotiated her deal; she has told us it’s the best and only deal available. There can be no more excuses, no more running away, put it before parliament and let’s have the vote. |
| PMQs | PMQs |
| Theresa May | Theresa May |
| Jeremy Corbyn | Jeremy Corbyn |
| House of Commons | House of Commons |
| analysis | analysis |
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