Question Time Leaders Special 2019: Four big talking points for tonight’s debate
The leaders of the Conservatives, Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Scottish National Party (SNP) will be grilled by members of the public over their General Election policies on a BBC Question Time special tonight.
Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn, Jo Swinson and Nicola Sturgeon will each face 30 minutes of audience questions, with Labour’s Corbyn up first.
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The Question Time special will be broadcast live from Sheffield from 7pm until 9pm this evening on BBC One. Viewers can also live stream the event online.
The show comes just a few days after the leaders of the two biggest parties – the Tories’ Johnson and Labour leader Corbyn – went head to head in an ITV debate. Viewers said the battle was a draw, with Johnson appearing more likeable but Corbyn scoring on the NHS.
On 6 December the BBC will host its own head-to-head debate between Johnson and Corbyn, where both leaders will be hoping to better than last time.
With the leaders preparing for tonight, what topics can they expect to be asked about?
Spending pledges
Labour launched its manifesto yesterday, promising over £80bn more spending a year on health and social care, higher education and a boost to social pay.
Corbyn will undoubtedly be quizzed on how he intends to pay for all this. Labour has said that only the richest five per cent of earners will have their tax increased. But the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said it was “not credible” that Labour could raise this sum in this way.
The Conservatives are also promising a marked increase in spending on the health service and extra police officers, for example.
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Yet they are also proposing cutting taxes by raising the national insurance contribution threshold. The audience could well ask whether these sums add up, but with the Tories yet to release their manifesto, the scrutiny is likely to be on Labour’s plans.
Brexit
Johnson hoped this election would be solely about Brexit. He has repeatedly exhorted voters to vote Tory to “get Brexit done” with an “oven-ready deal”, and the questioning will surely turn to the mammoth issue.
Lib Dem leader Swinson has pledged to revoke Article 50 on the first day of office, cancelling Brexit. Although there is very little chance of her becoming PM, Swinson can expect to face tough questions on a policy that would overturn a democratic vote.
Corbyn’s Brexit policy is to negotiate a new deal with a closer relationship to the EU and then put it to the public in a second referendum, with remain on the ballot paper. “There will be a genuine choice put before the people of Britain,” Corbyn said during the ITV debate, “and we will carry it out.”
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Yet he refused to say which way he would vote, something Johnson derided him for. The Labour leader will be steeling himself for more questions on the issue.
Scottish independence
With SNP leader Sturgeon taking part in the show, the thorny issue of Scottish independence is sure to emerge. One of Sturgeon’s main arguments for another independence referendum – in 2014 the country voted for the union – is that the country did not vote for Brexit.
Audience members may well quiz Sturgeon on whether she is using Brexit as a smokescreen, and whether Scotland would be an economically viable country on its own.
A Tory attack line has been that if Labour win the most votes, they are likely to be propped up by the SNP, who would demand a second referendum. It would not be a surprise if this is brought up.
Racism
Allegations that Corbyn has failed to tackle antisemitism within the Labour party have dogged the leader during this campaign.
In a front-page editorial, the Jewish Chronicle earlier this month accused Corbyn of having “allied with and supported antisemites” – for example calling terrorist group Hezbollah “friends”. The Question Time audience may ask whether the Labour leader has done enough to root out antisemitism in the party.
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Johnson could also face questions over racism, and in particular whether there is widespread Islamophobia in the Tory party. The PM has also compared women in burqas to “letterboxes” and “bank robbers” and referred to black people as “piccaninnies,” comments the audience may bring up.