LONDON (Labour Buzz) - There was a slaughter live on BBC last night as Boris Johnson blustered and flustered his way into a brick wall of his own incompetence and untruths. This was the final leaders’ debate and it was as one sided as anything we’ve seen in modern times.

Hosted by Nick Robinson and coming from a stage which looked like a funky 3D version of Blockbusters, the debate highlighted the difference from the very start.

On the one hand was Corbyn, looking to lead an ‘ambitious’ programme to reduce poverty, end inequality and take the country forward.

On the other was Boris Johnson desperately hoping nobody had noticed anything his party had done or said over the past decade. A man who, when grieving parents asked him not to use their son’s death to further the politics of hate, barely paused for breath before doing exactly that.

Brexit

Many of the spiciest encounters was on Brexit were Johnson desperately tried to repeat the phrase get Brexit done. However, as Corbyn was quick to point out, that’s not what he was promising. He was proposing to leave without a deal and throwing himself on the mercy of the US and a trade deal which, according to estimates, will take seven years.

Labour, instead, will negotiate a deal within three months and take the issue to a referendum within six after which it would be done. In other worse, Labour would end the uncertainty that is crippling business.

What businesses were telling him, he said, is that they “can’t stand the uncertainty” of Brexit. “They are constantly concerned at the lack of understanding in the way the country works,” he added.

On staying neutral he said: “We can’t say we represent the 48 or 52…. I want to lead a country for all the people. Will put the question to the country within six months and that will be the end of the matter.”

Manifestos

Johnson’s confusion extended to his manifesto which the IFS has labelled as not being ‘credible’. He struggled to answer the simple question: how would he spend the money he claimed while also cutting taxes?

Corbyn, meanwhile, pointed out that “if every part of our manifesto was carried out, we would just about reach the level of public services of France and Germany.” It’s a sign of how far the country has fallen behind that investment on this scale is needed simply to catch up.

A question of facts

It’s no surprise that Johnson has been flexible with the truth in this election. His response was just to repeat the same lies louder and louder. We had the much debunked claims of 40 new hospitals and 50,000 new nurses rolled out again.

When it came to security, he dialled it up a step further claiming that Labour would disband MI5. Corbyn confirmed there were ‘no such plans.’

Things got worse for him when the debate moved onto security. He began to look uncomfortable when confronted with the pleas from Jack Meritt’s father not to use his son’s death to argue endlessly for longer prison sentences, but that didn’t stop him from doing so.

In the end he was forced into a painful admission that complaints about cuts to prison and probation services were ‘valid’.

Who won?

It was a clear win for Labour. Where he was sober, moderate and confident, this was the kind of moment Johnson had been running from this entire campaign. He was pinned on the Tories’ record on the NHS, the disastrous Brexit and rising poverty.

As a debate it was an altogether different species from the cringe worth ITV debacle. There were no fluffy questions on Christmas presents. Instead they were forced to confront facts and put their programs to scrutiny and once that happened things fell apart pretty quickly.

(Written by Tom Cropper, edited by Michael O'Sullivan)

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