May launches one final attack on Corbyn at her last PMQs, but it totally backfires

Theresa May threw one last jab at Jeremy Corbyn during her final Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on 24 July. But it failed to land.

Propaganda to the last moment

The outgoing prime minister accused Corbyn of using “fake news and fake information” at PMQs.

Corbyn has shared numerous statistics in parliament since becoming the leader of the Labour Party. And 24 July was no different. Holding May to account, he said:

in the last three years, child poverty has gone up. Pensioner poverty has gone up. In-work poverty has gone up. Violent crime has gone up. NHS waiting times have gone up. School class sizes have gone up. Homelessness has gone up. Foodbank use has gone up. Does the Prime Minister have any regrets about any of those things I have just said?”

Shadow women and equalities minister Dawn Butler challenged May to apologise for suggesting figures like these were merely ‘fake news’. And she quoted fact-checking website Full Fact to back her up:

I wonder if I can get Theresa May to apologise for suggesting that Jeremy was giving fake news at #PMQs https://t.co/Pg1TxZj4sL

— Dawn Butler ✊🏾💙 (@DawnButlerBrent) July 24, 2019

Jeremy Corbyn said at #PMQs that school class sizes have increased over the last three years.

That’s correct for secondary schools in England. Average class sizes rose from 20.8 to 21.7 by 2019. [1/2]https://t.co/qOdB7sldkx

— Full Fact (@FullFact) July 24, 2019

There are, of course, different ways to measure statistics. And politicians tend to choose the measures that best fit their agendas, much as Theresa May did regarding wage growth:

Theresa May said at #PMQs that wages are growing at their fastest rate in a decade.
This ignores inflation, which means it’s a bad measure to use.
Real-terms pay for employees—whether or not you include bonuses—was growing faster in 2015 than it is now. https://t.co/7cpEkVyyrW

— Full Fact (@FullFact) July 24, 2019

But on one issue in particular, it was May who was telling porkies:

At #PMQs the PM says Jeremy Corbyn u-turned on his promise to abolish student debt.

This isn’t correct. He didn’t commit to abolishing student debt before the election, but did say he’d “deal with” the high debts of graduates: https://t.co/nj7cqZpdjF

— Full Fact (@FullFact) July 24, 2019

Don’t forget the Tory record in power

Corbyn paid tribute to May’s “sense of public duty” at PMQs. But he also stressed:

Given her successor has no mandate from the people, no mandate in which to move into office, doesn’t she agree the best thing the right honourable member for Uxbridge could do later on today when he takes office is to call a general election and let the people decide their future?

May disagreed.

Corbyn and his party, meanwhile, reminded people on Twitter of her record in power, insisting again on the need for a general election:

At Theresa May's final #PMQs… pic.twitter.com/ATrdroPa6j

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 24, 2019

Theresa May’s legacy is one of failure, broken promises and rises in
✖Poverty
✖Recorded violent crime
✖NHS waiting times
✖School class sizes
✖Homelessness
✖Foodbank use
Her successor has no mandate from the people – we need a General Election👇#PMQshttps://t.co/VnFDiIbtrQ

— The Labour Party (@UKLabour) July 24, 2019

After nine years of cuts to our schools, police and councils, Boris Johnson's priority is more tax giveaways for the richest and big businesses, not support for our public services. We need a General Election and a Labour government that works for the many not the privileged few.

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 24, 2019

Join us this Thursday to demand a General Election so the people of this country can choose who leads us – not 100,000 unrepresentative Tory party members.https://t.co/hh0Aq8cHMH pic.twitter.com/lBdKrNGtPh

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) July 23, 2019

As May left the despatch box for the final time, many fellow MPs applauded her. Corbyn did not. Perhaps he was keeping in mind her awful, destructive record as prime minister.

Featured image via screenshots, with additional reporting via Press Association