Last night (May 31) the first televised leader’s debate of the General Election 2017 took place. I call it a “leader’s debate”, but actually the SNP’s Nicola Sturgeon was replaced by her deputy, Angus Robertson.
Meanwhile, Theresa May, nothingness made corporeal, decided to ramp up the nothingness by not appearing, opting instead to send the Home Secretary Amber Rudd. May, who instead of focussing on Brexit negotiations called the election as a gambit to increase her majority, said of Corbyn’s decision to take part: “he ought to be paying a little more attention to thinking about Brexit negotiations. That’s what I’m doing.” She’s so funny sometimes. Anyway – here’s six big takeaways from the evening.
1. Theresa May was the biggest loser
The Prime Minister became an absolute laughing stock for her no-show. Tim Farron suggested viewers switch over to ‘Bake Off’ instead of watching Amber Rudd’s closing statement because, he said, “You are not worth Theresa May’s time [so] don’t give her yours.”
.@timfarron closed his #BBCDebate final statement by urging viewers to have a brew and switch over, rather than listen to May's stand-in pic.twitter.com/VjgFGmPH3y
— Guardian politics (@GdnPolitics) May 31, 2017
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry suggested Theresa May was actually watching ‘Bake Off’
https://twitter.com/GeorgeMRyan/status/870008967979610112
And Green leader Caroline Lucas called Theresa May out in the debate itself.
"The first rule of leadership is to show up" – Green co-leader Caroline Lucas https://t.co/3UgzdU67uv #BBCDebate #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/Z9QU4v7dhx
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 31, 2017
2. Corbyn nailed it
The Labour leader called out UKIP leader Paul Nuttall, explaining how bringing corporation tax back up will fund the NHS, schools and social care.
.@Conservatives and @UKIP's plan to keep lowering corporation tax means continued crisis in our schools, NHS and social care. #BBCDebate pic.twitter.com/lOpOHM7n0l
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 1, 2017
He drew comparisons between himself and Theresa May that didn’t flatter the latter.
Asked about leadership, Jeremy Corbyn says it's about saying "we cannot go on like this"#BBCDebate https://t.co/h9Ad0bpZ7a pic.twitter.com/IklRUvAhYP
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 31, 2017
And when Amber Rudd came for him, he had the perfect response:
The moment Amber Rudd played her trump card, only to discover Jeremy Corbyn had the ace pic.twitter.com/vspGAKkbdW
— Ian Fraser (@Ian_Fraser) May 31, 2017
Watch his closing speech if you’re still unconvinced.
Powerful ?#CorbynWins #BBCDebate pic.twitter.com/2tIw0Iix7A
— Momentum (@PeoplesMomentum) May 31, 2017
3. Caroline Lucas made all the best points
She reminded Amber Rudd of the number of people using food banks.
What planet do you live on @AmberRuddHR? Nurses are going to foodbanks. #BBCDebate #GE2017 pic.twitter.com/gKlWbpGgg2
— The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) May 31, 2017
She also called out the Tories for selling arms. “I genuinely wonder how you sleep at night,” she said. “Arms sales to Saudi Arabia cannot be justified on the grounds of this being good for industry.”
https://twitter.com/baegha_n/status/870000990967091200
And to top it all off:
"For Amber to say that this is a government who cares for the most vulnerable is downright insulting" #BBCdebate pic.twitter.com/hqPUWHYO6K
— The Green Party (@TheGreenParty) May 31, 2017
4. Amber Rudd flopped
When Amber Rudd asked the audience to judge the Tories on their record, the audience collapsed into laughter.
that went well. #BBCDebate pic.twitter.com/KHOaiJFWzT
— Matthew Champion (@matthewchampion) May 31, 2017
When Rudd said: “Jeremy only decided to come late this morning – I was rather hoping Diane Abbott might be here so I could debate with her as well,” Abbott fired right back on Twitter:
.@AmberRuddHR Heard you were asking for me? This was a leaders debate. My leader respects the British public enough to show up #BBCDebate
— Diane Abbott (@HackneyAbbott) May 31, 2017
When Rudd described the other leaders as a “coalition of chaos” it came across as pre-written. Labour, the Greens, and the Lib Dems were anything but chaotic.
Rudd is so wrong. We didn't see a coalition of chaos – we saw several adults in the room arguing for progressive social democracy#BBCDebate
— Clapton Blues (@garyfoskett) May 31, 2017
Amber Rudd's "you've seen the coalition of chaos in action" obviously written days ago & not a fair appraisal of the intelligent #BBCDebate.
— Tim Walker (@ThatTimWalker) May 31, 2017
This was the vibe in the room at the end:
https://twitter.com/thomaslockes/status/870009996288733184
5. Paul Nuttall was a joke
He started talking about Brexit as a divorce, so Leanne Wood did a brilliant one-liner.
"Would you refuse to pay your dues if you were going through a real divorce?" – Wood v Nuttall on Brexit #BBCDebate https://t.co/h9Ad0bpZ7a pic.twitter.com/7ZzjWOp6CI
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) May 31, 2017
It played well:
LEANNE'S BUUUUUUURRRNN OF THE NIGHT #BBCDebate pic.twitter.com/Y42opzOTeV
— Toby Earle (@TobyonTV) May 31, 2017
He also told barefaced lies, which were duly picked up on:
Paul "poundshop Mussolini" Nuttall claiming he wants to help the NHS *when he is literally on record wanting its abolition* #BBCDebate
— Owen REGISTER TO VOTE Jones? (@OwenJones84) May 31, 2017
Nuttall, the man whose website falsely claimed he lost a close friend at Hillsborough, says 'I don't flip flop'
— Paul Waugh (@paulwaugh) May 31, 2017
6. Politicians’ personal lives should have no bearing on this election
Immediately after the debate, The Sun exclusively revealed that Amber Rudd’s 93-year-old father had died two days before the debate, but she had gone ahead with appearing in it anyway. A lot of reactions to this news were sympathetic to Rudd, or suggested Theresa May was ice-cold for ‘making’ Rudd appear instead of her:
Amber Rudd's father died on Monday – and Theresa May still refused to attend tonight's #BBCdebate. That's cold.
— Colette Browne (@colettebrowne) May 31, 2017
Then there were reactions like these:
Amber Rudd making little or no serious attempt on #BBCDebate to defend her leader for ducking out of it. She's clearly a v ambitious lady.
— Tim Walker (@ThatTimWalker) May 31, 2017
Amber Rudd deserves every sympathy for the loss of her father, but her bereavement doesn’t have any place in the narrative of this election campaign. Taking May’s place can be read as ‘brave’ just as easily it can be read as ‘ambitious’.
It doesn’t really matter which it is – what matters is that Amber Rudd is an adult who decided to appear in the debate for herself. While you can respect that decision, her sad news shouldn’t affect people’s opinions about how she performed. It is ludicrous to suggest May ‘forced’ her to appear, just as it is ludicrous to praise her for her ‘bravery’ in taking part. This is not The X Factor: this is the future of the country.
With the polls narrowing, June 8’s result is looking increasingly up in the air. NME’s ‘plus one’ campaign wants you to take a mate to the polls. We know you’re a great person and you’ve already registered. But next Thursday, make sure your mates are up to speed.
The general election takes place on Thursday June 8, 2017.