Another week and another barn door missed by Jeremy Corbyn as he allows Theresa May to wriggle out of public sector pay row
Labour leader had the PM fighting on his terms but let Mrs May snatch a draw at their weekly sparring session
ANOTHER week and another barn door for the Labour leader to hit - this time the ongoing muddle as the Tories ease their foot of the pedal off austerity.
It took Jeremy Corbyn three goes to get it right but he got there in the end - “what is the position on public sector pay as of midday on Wednesday?”
Well said.
“Does the PM understand that inflation 2.9 per cent” and “anything less” will leave public sector workers out of pocket? Good point.
After throwing away his first two questions, the veteran socialist had the PM fighting on his terms at their weekly PMQs bout.
Fresh from the announcement that police and prisons officers will finally get a pay rise, the usual lines from the PM were not going to cut it.
The problem with Theresa May going into battle on Labour’s ground is nothing will ever be enough.
If she gives into demands from Labour, they will ask for more - it’s very simple.
And Mr Corbyn even came with some good lines this week: “Tory MPs tell each other - we’ve never had it so good.”
The Prime Minister was off to a slow start too and was only let off the hook today by Mr Corbyn’s immaturity as a frontbencher.
Extraordinarily it took Mrs May 15 minutes before she mentioned the latest plummet in unemployment figures announced this morning - “the lowest levels since mid-1970s.”
Obviously the harbinger of doom was not going to bring this up himself, but it was striking that Jeremy Corbyn could not even bring himself to welcome the fact 75,000 more people are in work in the last two months.
And he could have had a win today had he been gracious enough to celebrate this news - and then pivot back onto his standard lefty attacks.
But that would require some skills at the Despatch Box that the Leader of the Opposition - after two years - still sorely lacks.
Instead he let Mrs May snatch a draw - but the Tory messaging on the public sector pay is all over the shop and they will not be able to hide behind fig-leaf good news figures for long.
SCORE: Jeremy Corbyn 3 – 3 Theresa May
