Corbyn supporter hammers a Tory MP so hard that a BBC host swoops in

Politics Live studio


Support us and go ad-free

Momentum national coordinator Laura Parker hammered the Conservatives on the 12 November edition of Politics Live. In fact, BBC host Jo Coburn quickly intervened.

“You are making it up”

Parker was responding to the Conservatives attacking Labour for planning to invest in the UK. On the BBC, Conservative MP Helen Whately attacked Labour’s plans, saying “we know Labour is going to go on a reckless spend-a-thon”.

But Parker wasn’t having it:

Parker said:

You are making it up. It’s really shameful. You do a great disservice to the British electorate with this performance…

we already know what your government has brought… ten years of austerity, wage stagnation, schools having whip-rounds to pay for books, NHS – now, there’s a shortage of 43,000 nurses.

So we know what the Tory economics look like. I think you should wait, see our manifesto – which will be fully costed as it was last time, unlike yours, which wasn’t – and then we can have the discussion again. In the meantime, it’s worse than fake news –

But host Coburn cut her off, asking the Conservative MP:

What’s your big figure?

Labour economics

Labour is planning to echo its 2017 plans for a huge investment programme. And the party has exempted 95% of the UK public from tax rises. Economic inequality is so polarised that you only need to raise extra taxes from people who earn above £80,000 per year. Under Labour, if you earn £81,000, for instance, you will be taxed just £50 more per year.

Case in point: the UK’s richest 1,000 families have increased their wealth by over £500bn since the 2008 financial crash, while the majority of us have faced brutal austerity cuts.

Despite being hugely outnumbered, Parker dominated Politics Live with common sense. Those fed up with a corrupt status quo might just swing this election yet.

Featured image via wrightismight/ Twitter

Support us and go ad-free

We know everyone is suffering under the Tories - but the Canary is a vital weapon in our fight back, and we need your support

The Canary Workers’ Co-op knows life is hard. The Tories are waging a class war against us we’re all having to fight. But like trade unions and community organising, truly independent working-class media is a vital weapon in our armoury.

The Canary doesn’t have the budget of the corporate media. In fact, our income is over 1,000 times less than the Guardian’s. What we do have is a radical agenda that disrupts power and amplifies marginalised communities. But we can only do this with our readers’ support.

So please, help us continue to spread messages of resistance and hope. Even the smallest donation would mean the world to us.

Support us
  • Show Comments

    1. No, no, no! I’m willing to accept that the BBC can be woefully unbalanced. In this case, however, listening to the entire exchange, it is clear that Coburn did not, as you put it, cut Laura Parker off. She allowed her to finish, then asked Helen Whately to answer the accusation, which she did – not very well. When Whately then tried to carry on Coburn did in fact cut Whately off – quite reasonably – with the curt comment: “OK, you’ve had your response.”

      Laura Parker put in a very good performance, in a voice which, unlike Whately’s, was not hectoring. Both parties were given a good platform, and Parker used the space better.

      Don’t distract by making the exchange into a dig at the BBC. Allow it for what it was; good advocacy for Labour.

      Report comment

    Leave a Reply

    Join the conversation

    Please read our comment moderation policy here.

Related articles