Jeremy Corbyn has said the public “cannot trust” Th eresa May as the two clashed over plans for a snap election. Th e Labour leader told MPs the Tories had “broken promises” on the NHS and the defi cit and “starved” schools of money while cutting tax for the rich.
Th e prime minister said Labour would “bankrupt” the UK and only the Tories could ensure a “strong economy and defence” and make a success of Brexit. MPs are debating Mrs May’s call for an 8 June election. Opening the debate, Mrs May said a snap general election was “in our country’s national interest” and said there should be unity, not division, at Westminster over Brexit.
She urged MPs to do the “right and responsible thing” and back an early poll. Mr Corbyn cited the PM’s previous insistence there would be no general election before 2020, asking: “How can any voter trust what the prime minister says?” And the SNP’s Angus Robertson attacked her refusal to take part in TV debates, saying her stance was “unsustainable”.
Th e early poll is expected to secure the support it requires to go ahead following Mrs May’s surprise announcement on Tuesday. Th e next general election had been expected in 2020, but the Fixed Term Parliaments Act allows for one to be held earlier if two-thirds of MPs back the move.
Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr Corbyn said he welcomed the prospect of an election but suggested that Mrs May’s U-turn on the issue and her record in government over the past seven years proved she could not be trusted.
Challenging the prime minister to defend her record by taking part in TV debates – which she has so far refused to do – Mr Corbyn said the Conservatives’ record was one of falling wages, rising debt, increasing child poverty and an NHS that was in a “year-round crisis”.
“Austerity has failed,” he told MPs. “Over the last seven years, the Tories have broken every promise on living standards,, the defi cit, debt, the health service and schools funding. Why should anyone believe a word they say over the next seven weeks?”
In response, Mrs May said she was “very proud” of her government’s achievements, including delivering record levels of employment and spending more money on the health service than ever before, telling MPs the country faced a “real choice” on 8 June. “We will be fi ghting for every vote. While the right honourable gentleman (Mr Corbyn) would bankrupt our economy, weaken our defences and is simply not fi t to lead.”
