Key points
Jeremy Corbyn’s decision to ignore the burning issue of the day – the leak of the Home Office’s draft document on immigration after Brexit – and indeed Brexit entirely, led to a relatively subdued exchange centred on low pay and the treatment of workers in both the private and public sectors.
Corbyn began by asking May whether she backed the striking workers at McDonald’s and their demands for an end to zero-hours contracts and better pay. May replied that although this was an issue for McDonald’s, the number of people on zero-hours contracts was small and, in any case, Labour had done nothing to prevent those contracts during 13 years in government, and the Conservatives had in the time since.
Corbyn pointed out that the McDonald’s chief executive earned 1,300 times his employees’ average pay, and asked whether May’s tough talk on executive pay during the election campaign was only that. May referred him to just-published Tory plans on corporate governance.
There followed a question on capping energy bills, another Tory proposal that Corbyn said had been dropped. May replied that this was not the case and that the government was taking action on behalf of customers.
Corbyn then moved on to the Sports Direct majority owner Mike Ashley who had promised to end zero-hours contracts a year ago but had yet to eliminate them, and asked May whether she thought he should. She said the government had taken action on zero-hours contracts but did not directly address Sports Direct. The Labour leader finished with a question on nurses’ pay – they were protesting outside parliament on Wednesday – and whether May would get rid of the public sector pay cap. She responded that two public pay reports had yet to be published, and the government would wait until they were before publishing its new remit.
Snap verdict
By no means a classic, or even a particularly memorable PMQs, but it was a welcome reminder that there is a lot more to politics than Brexit – which, for about the first time in the national conversation for months, did not get a mention for 15 minutes – and it was an exchange that reflected much better on Corbyn than it did on May. He had enough material for about a month’s worth of PMQs, and the constant changes of subject meant he did not press May hard on a single topic but his questions were topical and good.
May was generally quite evasive. She did have something to say on corporate governance, but it was not convincing and she could not really answer Corbyn’s point about having to drop manifesto commitments. (The honest answer – “I didn’t get a majority” – would not really cut it at PMQs.) May’s reliance on the “Labour is to blame for the deficit” argument sounded threadbare – it wasn’t even true as an argument in 2010 – and you could tell she was flanneling when she launched into an entirely irrelevant, although not entirely unfounded, aside about Corbyn and Trident.
Memorable lines
For years he sat on Labour benches and didn’t support Labour policy. Now he’s leader he still doesn’t.
May contrasts Corbyn’s claim that she has dumped her manifesto with the suggestion that Corbyn doesn’t support parts of his either, namely Trident policy.
She had no problem finding a billion for the DUP.
Corbyn on May’s generosity towards Ulster unionists compared with her position on public sector workers.
