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

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs
Ed Sykes


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:

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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:

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

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:

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

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