No clear champ in Johnson, Corbyn spar in U.K. election debate
LONDON • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn attacked each other’s policies on Brexit, health care and the economy Tuesday in a televised election debate that likely failed to answer the question troubling many voters: Why should we trust you?
The two politicians hammered away at their rival’s weaknesses and sidestepped tricky questions about their policies in the hourlong encounter, which was the first head-to-head TV debate between a British prime minister and a chief challenger.
It was a chance for Corbyn to make up ground in opinion polls that show his Labour Party trailing Johnson’s Conservatives ahead of the Dec. 12 election. For Johnson, the matchup was an opportunity to shake off a wobbly campaign start that has seen the Conservatives thrown on the defensive by candidates’ gaffes and favoritism allegations involving Johnson’s relationship with an American businesswoman while he was London’s mayor.
Both men stuck to safe territory, with Corbyn touting Labour’s plans for big increases in public spending and Johnson trying to keep the focus on his promise to “get Brexit done.”
Speaking in front of a live audience, the two men traded blows over Britain’s stalled departure from the European Union — the reason the election is being held. The U.K. is due to leave the bloc on Jan. 31, after failing to meet the Oct. 31 deadline to approve a divorce deal.
Johnson pushed to hold the election more than two years ahead of schedule in an effort to win a majority in the House of Commons that could pass his departure agreement with the EU.
He blamed the opposition for “deadlock and division” and said a Conservative government would “end this national misery” and “break the deadlock.”
Corbyn said a Labour government would also settle the Brexit question by negotiating a new divorce deal before holding a new EU membership referendum within six months.
Boris Johnson, left, and Jeremy Corbyn with TV debate adjudicator Julie Etchingham before their election head-to-head debate live on TV in Manchester, England, on Tuesday.
