What was supposedly once a key Theresa May issue has now turned toxic for the PM

Key points

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn pay tribute to those killed in the London Bridge terror attack and the emergency services.

PMQs: Theresa May refuses to say when Brexit white paper will be published - Politics live Read more

Corbyn asks if the government’s Brexit white paper will be published before the debate next week.

May says the government wants to publish a white paper going beyond speeches and papers published so far. She says it will be an ambitious offer to be negotiated with the EU.

Corbyn says his question was simple: when will it be published? Next week MPs will debate the most important legislation for a long time. He asks if the white paper will be published ahead of the June EU summit.

May says next week’s votes will be important. They will be about implementing Brexit. She says, if Corbyn wants to talk about clarity, he should stand up and rule out a second referendum.

Corbyn says the last time he looked it said prime minister’s questions. He says the government said this white paper would set out the government’s vision. Yet it is nowhere to be seen.

He asks which of the sub-committees looking at the “max fac” and customs partnership plans have met, and when people will find out what they have decided.

May says she did not ask a question. She just challenged him to stand up and say what Labour policy was on a second referendum. She urges him to rule it out.

Corbyn says it is not the opposition that is conducting the negotiations. And it is not the government doing it either. He asks if a 10-mile buffer zone in Northern Ireland is now government policy.

May says the government wants to ensure there is no hard border between the UK and Ireland. It continues to negotiate with the EU. She says the debate next week is important. It will show the sincerity of this house on leaving the EU.

Corbyn says May has given no answer on the white paper and no answer on the buffer zone. But that plan has united people in Ireland. They say it is bonkers.

Is it her plan to complete the transition by December 2020? Yes, says May.

Corbyn says Damian Green, the former first secretary of state, said there would be a transition after the transition. He says the government has delivered more delays and cancellations on Brexit than Northern rail. He says the government’s incompetence threatens communities. What will last longer – the Northern rail franchise or her premiership?

May says if Corbyn won’t speak about his Brexit policy, she will. Keir Starmer said Labour was not united on this. She says Labour has sought to frustrate Brexit on every stage. Labour is refusing to deliver Brexit. This government is delivering on it, she says.

Snap verdict

It is hard to believe now that May called a general election last year because she thought her stance on Brexit would help her win a thumping victory over Jeremy Corbyn and Labour. What was supposedly a key May issue has now turned toxic, to the extent that Corbyn has yet again notched up a solid PMQs win on the topic, seemingly quite effortlessly. He did so by the simple expedient of asking when the government’s Brexit white paper would be published.

May was able to give a clear, straight answer to Corbyn’s question about the end of the transition (although it probably won’t turn out to be an accurate answer – many people think there will eventually be a post-transition transition), and she could probably have answered the 10-mile buffer zone question (sources says it’s a non-starter). But she was flailing on the white paper, and it matters because her failure to say when it will be published illustrates the government’s inability to answer crucial questions about its negotiating stance.

May fought back by challenging Corbyn to rule out a second Brexit referendum, and by taunting him over what Keir Starmer said about Labour party divisions. But these felt like second-order and largely irrelevant issues, and she could not disguise the fact that Corbyn’s criticisms were spot-on.

Memorable lines

Theresa May:

If he wants to talk about clarity … he should stand up and rule out a second referendum.

Jeremy Corbyn: