Corbyn fails to land knockout blow … but does have best moment
The conventional wisdom among the punditocracy has been that this was Jeremy Corbyn’s last chance to change the dynamics of this contest, and if that was the case he didn’t manage it, even though in parts he had the best of the debate. The YouGov poll suggests Boris Johnson narrowly came out on top when viewers were asked who won, but on another measure Corbyn did better.
Johnson’s message about Labour not offering certainty on Brexit is a powerful one, and if anything the PM made it even more effectively on Friday night than he did in the ITV debate two and a half weeks ago.
That said, Corbyn had the best moment, when he came back at Johnson over “failure of leadership” and said what was a failure of leadership was using racist language. It was a powerful blow, and perhaps the best moment of the debate. After a question about Islamophobia and antisemitism, when Corbyn condemned racism in general terms, but declined to say that Johnson was personally culpable in this regard, Johnson switched the topic back to leadership. He said:
I think that, you know, Mr Corbyn, I’m sure is very well intentioned. But I think in his handling of this particular issue, his unwillingness to take a stand, to stand up for Jewish people in the Labour party. His unwillingness to protect them, to put an arm round them, is in my view a failure of leadership. You cannot be neutral on questions like this, any more, in my view, than you can try to lead this country and be neutral on the issue of Brexit. It is a failure to take a stand, to have a point of view, that in the end will cost this country gravely and deeply.
At this point Corbyn hit back:
A failure of leadership is when you use racist remarks to describe people in different countries or in our society. I will never do that and my party will never do that.
In the first debate between the two leaders Johnson’s track record of using racist language in his journalism did not come up at all, and this moment left one wondering if Corbyn should have gone on the offensive on this issue much earlier in the campaign. It was an effective retort, but it did not silence Johnson and he recovered very well by pivoting back to Brexit, and asking of Corbyn’s solution to Brexit: Where is it?
This has been Johnson’s most powerful message throughout the campaign and on Friday, although much of what he said was familiar, he was probably sharper and more incisive on this point than he has been before. He joked about how Corbyn’s Brexit deal would be a “mystery deal”, because it was not clear what would be in it, and how he could not identify who would negotiate it in the shadow cabinet because most of Corbyn’s team back remain. Johnson also claimed that, if he were able to get the UK out of the EU by the end of January next year, investment worth £150bn would come flooding into the country (an assertion that is unlikely to survive factchecking). For Corbyn, Brexit was defensive territory, but at least the audience was not as sceptical when he was explaining Labour’s policy as it was in the ITV debate and he may have made an impression with his argument that Johnson’s trade deal with the US might take seven years to negotiate - a point he made repeatedly.
Corbyn was better on domestic policy. Although he may have overdone the tendency to reference the 1940s, he was calm and persuasive when arguing that Labour’s plans to increase the level of state spending would only take the UK up towards an EU average and on crime and the London Bridge terror attacks his points about the impact of prison cuts were at least as potent as anything Johnson said about sentencing.
Much of what was said replicated what was said at the ITV debate, and that probably explains why the YouGov snap polling has recorded almost exactly the same verdict as it did last month. The most interesting question of the night came when Nick Robinson asked them which had done most to raise living standards: socialism or capitalism. Because it was a quick fire round, we just got stock answers. But a one-hour debate between Johnson and Corbyn exploring this topic alone in more detail would have made excellent TV, and would probably have ended up being more illuminating.
Meanwhile
• Channel 4 News has apologised after a subtitling error wrongly claimed Boris Johnson had discussed whether “people of colour” should be allowed into the UK, prompting the Conservatives to accuse staff at the channel of being campaigners rather than journalists. In reality, Johnson said he was in favour of having “people of talent” come to the UK, and did not discuss race.
• At least four ministers have gone on election campaigning trips to endorse Tory candidates facing allegations of Islamophobia since the claims against them came to light, the Guardian has learned.
• Conservatives have dismissed Andrew Neil’s demands for Johnson interview.
• Michael Gove has said allowing EU citizens to vote in another Brexit referendum would represent “an assault” on democracy.
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