Jeremy Corbyn will remain leader of the Labour Party regardless of what happens on June 8, the party’s election coordinator has suggested as he claimed “it’s only the beginning of the Corbyn project”.

Ian Lavery hinted at an election rally in Glasgow on Sunday that defeat would not...</s>Jeremy Corbyn has said leadership is as much about listening as it is about talking as he presented himself as a fluent and relaxed alternative to Theresa May’s strained performance in front of a live audience.

In the first of their TV specials for the election campaign the Labour leader bested the Tory Prime Minister in front of an audience of voters.

May was mocked by the studio audience over the costing of the Tory manifesto after her U-turn on dumping a social care policy while Corbyn appeared to win some people over.

One member of the audience could be seen saying “utter bollocks” as the Prime Minister explained away Tory cuts.

The two did not go head to-head – May has refused a debate – but subjected themselves to a 20-minute Q&A with a live studio audience followed by a grilling by Jeremy Paxman.

Labour won the toss and Corbyn went first.

He was immediately challenged on his two major weaknesses – his historic support for the IRA and his lack of convincing leadership qualities.

Challenged by one man who said he liked the Labour manifesto but did not see Corbyn as “someone who could run this country”, the Labour leader said he saw himself as a listening politician.

“You should never be so high and mighty you can’t listen to somebody else and learn something from them. Leadership is as much about using this, as using this” he said gesturing to his ear and mouth.

The Labour leader was confronted by an angry audience member who claimed the Labour leader had “openly supported the IRA in the past” by attending a commemoration for eight IRA members killed by the SAS in Loughgall.

Corbyn said there was a period of silence for “everyone who died in Northern Ireland” at the 1987 event.

Theresa May’s weakest flank was her U-turn on social care costs.

Having said people in England would have to pay for care in old age if they had assets over £100,000 including the value of their home the Tory leader was put under pressure.

“Its about ensuring that saving are protected to pass on through the family,” said May.

It took her some time to get onto her core leadership message about Brexit negotiations while she batted questions about underfunding of health and education.

She was skewered by Jeremy Paxman on her election U-turn and her policy wobble that made her look like a “blowhard who collapses at the first sound of gunfire.”

With more to lose the Tory leader escaped with her authority dented but just intact.

In contrast Jeremy Corbyn surprised with his relaxed and fluent performance with ten days before the vote.

Jeremy Corbyn has had a good campaign so far and did himself no harm last night.

Under the studio lights, facing intense questions, the Labour leader put in a relaxed and fluent performance.

In contrast, an audience laughing at a PM is never a good look – and they did mock Theresa May.

Corbyn has answered questions on the IRA and Trident so often now he can respond with practised ease. He doesn’t answer straight but managed to sound reasonable.

While Corbyn was at ease, May had a slight air of desperation, second up and knowing her opponent had not stumbled.

TV debates do not change many views but if you were a voter who has not seen much of Corbyn, you might have warmed to him. The studio audience did.

Jeremy Paxman blethered on about the monarchy and Corbyn pivoted the interview on to his core message of fighting poverty.

May fought back for her authority in the interview section and Paxman proved revealingly ineffective.

Television politics has moved on and his predatory instincts looked long in the tooth.</s>On the campaign trail today

Fresh from the hot lights of the TV studio, Theresa May will be back on the road as we continue the last full week of campaigning before the General Election as the Conservative battlebus takes the PM to the West Midlands.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn takes to the airwaves on BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, after his grilling by Jeremy Paxman, hits the keyboard in a Mumsnet chat at noon, then heads to the BBC One Show sofa in the evening.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron will be in Bermondsey, a seat his party lost in 2015 and will be hoping to regain.

North of the border, and the SNP will be launching its manifesto in Perth.

The not-a-debate between Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May is the political story making the headlines in Tuesday’s papers, with the i calling the clash between the party leaders and Jeremy Paxman “bruising”.

On the inside pages, the paper says both leaders failed “to land decisive blows”, adding that Mr Corbyn “emerged unscathed”.

The Telegraph, perhaps unsurprisingly, takes a different stance suggesting that Mr Corbyn “ducked” a question on whether he would launch a drone strike, while the Times has a story about Mrs May’s plans to “woo” the working class and focusing on getting Labour and Ukip voters to turn to her party.

The other story making the inside pages is Conservative candidate Dominic Raab who provoked anger when he claimed foodbank users were not “languishing in poverty” and instead had “cashflow problems”.

“I am clear about the instruction I have been given, clear about what needs to be done, and ready to get on with the job on day one – while Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t have the belief, the will or the plan to deliver Brexit” – Theresa May, from a speech she is expected to give on Tuesday

“The current patchy support for childcare is holding back too many families. High-quality childcare can transform a child’s life chances and make it much easier for parents to work” – Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as he launches his party’s plans for childcare.

“His interview with Mr Corbyn was a nightmare – and not for the Labour leader” – Telegraph sketch writer Michael Deacon on rottweiler-turned “tired old dog” Jeremy Paxman.</s>Jeremy Corbyn has come under fire from opponents after indicating he would “open discussions” with the SNP about the prospect of a second referendum if he becomes Prime Minister.

The Labour leader did say he would be inclined to block such a vote until after the Brexit negotiations are complete, but his admission that he would “consider” a referendum was seized upon by other pro-union parties yesterday.

It came as Mr Corbyn ruled out the prospect of forming a government in a “progressive alliance” with the SNP as polls indicate that Labour is closing the gap to the Tories.

Nicola Sturgeon had indicated at the weekend that she would prefer to see the Labour leader in power rather than Theresa May.

Mr Corbyn was briefing journalists yesterday morning after attending a rally in front of hundreds of supporters in Glasgow on Sunday night

Asked about the recent vote in the Scottish Parliament for a second referendum, Mr Corbyn said: “I’ll obviously open discussions with the Government in Scotland and listen very carefully to what the Scottish Parliament says.

“I would ask them to think very carefully about it and suggest it would be much better to have this question dealt with at the conclusion of what are very serious and very important Brexit negotiations.”

Mr Corbyn said the appetite for a second referendum is “declining very fast”.

He added: “Obviously I realise the Scottish Parliament has made a decision of its view.

“I will receive and consider that, but I think the priority has to be the Brexit negotiations and dealing with that first.

Asked whether he would endorse a referendum after the Brexit negotiations are complete, he added: “Let’s look at the issue at that point.”

The comments were seized upon by Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson.

“Nicola Sturgeon has said she’d put Jeremy Corbyn into Number 10. Now Jeremy Corbyn says he is happy to ‘open discussions’ with her about a second referendum,” Ms Davidson said.

“Labour voters in Scotland now know that Jeremy Corbyn would sell them down the river.

“I will never fold against Nicola Sturgeon’s demand for a second referendum.

“It is clearer than ever that only by voting Scottish Conservatives on 8 June can we send her a message to take if off the table.”

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn last night sought to play down the comments insisting that the “discussions” were a reference to all Scottish issues.

He added: “Jeremy Corbyn and Scottish Labour have repeatedly said that a second independence referendum is both unwanted and unnecessary. Labour firmly opposes a second independence referendum.”

Mr Corbyn, who has already ruled out any agreement with the SNP, spoke out on the issue again yesterday.

He said: “There will be no deals. There will be no alliance. We’re fighting this election to win.

“Only Labour or the Tories can win this election and voting Labour is the only way to remove Theresa May from office and build a Scotland for the many not the few.” His comments follow an interview with the BBC in which Ms Sturgeon said Mr Corbyn was not “credible as an alternative prime minister”.

But the SNP leader also said that “if there was to be a hung parliament of course we would look to be part of a progressive alliance that pursued progressive policies”.

Recent opinion polls across the UK have showed Theresa May’s lead over Labour shrinking.

A poll by Survation for ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB) today puts Labour on 37 per cent, up three points on a week ago and six points behind the Tories who are unchanged on 43 per cent.</s>Jeremy Corbyn appeared on the BBC’s The One Show, speaking about his childhood as a newspaper boy in rural Shropshire. The Labour leader said it is easier to control 10-year-olds than the parliamentary Labour party. Corbyn gifted the presenters a jar of homemade jam that he made out of fruits from his own allotment.
• General election: Jeremy Corbyn interviewed on The One Show – politics live
• Jeremy Corbyn still to decide on TV election debate appearance</s>LONDON (AP) - Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn faced tough questions and a skeptical audience in a live TV event Monday night ahead of next week's parliamentary elections.

It was not a debate, but did air policy and stylistic differences between the two foes. They did not appear together but were questioned separately by members of the audience and by aggressive interviewer Jeremy Paxman.

The June 8 election pits May, the Conservative Party leader who opposed Brexit before the referendum last June but now favors it, against Corbyn, who has alienated many longtime Labour supporters with his hard-left views.

The "Battle for Number 10" show broadcast on Sky News and Channel 4 brought the two prime contenders together in the same studio at the same time, but they did not appear together at any point. Voters are not likely to get a true debate before the vote.

Facing harsh questioning from Paxman, one of Britain's best known TV journalists, May defended her about-face on Brexit. She rebuffed his repeated attempts to get her to say whether she now thinks leaving the European Union is a good idea, saying only that the British voters have decided and that she is determined to get the best deal possible.

"We are doing the right thing in making a success of Brexit," she said, vowing to maintain her reputation as a "bloody difficult woman" during talks with European Union leaders if her party wins the election and keeps power.

But Paxman set the tone by saying that if he were an EU negotiator who had observed all her recent flip flops, he would think of her as a "blowhard who collapses at the first sound of gunfire."

May often found herself on the defensive as audience members grilled her on cuts to the police, National Health Service and education, and a so-called "dementia tax" that might make it harder for elderly Britons to pass on their property to their heirs.

At one point a heckler yelled, "You've clearly failed."

Corbyn did not enjoy smooth sailing either, with Paxman making numerous accusations and typically cutting Corbyn off before he could reply. Paxman challenged Corbyn's refusal to denounce the Irish Republican Army and his having met with Hamas officials and suggested the Labour leader would seek to abolish the monarchy if his party triumphed.

Corbyn said getting rid of Britain's constitutional monarchy is "certainly not on my agenda."

He said he was fighting the election for "social justice" and to reduce poverty, not to change the law regarding the monarch.</s>Theresa May today warned voters that Corbyn would be “naked and alone” in the Brexit negotiating chamber in a bizarre analogy broadcast live on TV.

The PM was today on the campaign trail in Wolverhampton to deliver a speech urging Brits to back her in next week’s General Election.

Mrs May made the odd analogy as she slammed Mr Corbyn’s performance on last night’s special election programme which saw both party leaders face questions in front of a studio audience.

She said: “Last night showed that Jeremy Corbyn’s minders can put him in a smart blue suit for an interview with Jeremy Paxman but, with his position on Brexit, he will find himself alone and naked in the negotiating chamber of the European Union.

“Now I know that’s an image that doesn’t bear thinking about, but actually this is very serious”.

Mrs May was criticised for her choice of words, with many commentators calling it “weird” and “bizarre”.

The PM also used her speech to insist on the importance of Brexit, suggesting the Conservative Party would be the right choice to “make a success” of the vote to leave.

She said: “Every school in every village, town and city needs us to make a success of Brexit.

“If we want to continue to play our part on the world stage, standing up for our liberal values, with strong defences to protect us – we need to make a success of Brexit.

She claimed Mr Corbyn would bring a “chaotic” approach to Brexit while she would provide strong and stable leadership.

On social media, many people questioned Mrs May’s decision to bring to mind the image of the naked Labour leader while others cracked jokes.

One woman on Twitter, called Naomi, said: “Jeremy Corbyn will be alone and naked in the negotiating chamber’. Our current PM has a shocking way with words”.

Another Twitter user, Matthew, said: “If Corbyn commented about May being naked in that way, there’d be uproar tbh”.</s>The veteran BBC broadcaster David Dimbleby has intervened in the election campaign to say that Jeremy Corbyn has not been treated fairly in the press.

The broadcaster, who is often regarded as the voice of the nation after decades of fronting Question Time, election night specials and state occasions, strayed into unfamiliar territory by backing a longstanding complaint by Corbyn’s supporters.

Speaking before a Question Time special on Thursday when he will interview the Labour leader and Theresa May, Dimbleby pointed out the rightwing bias of most British newspapers and complained of their “lazy pessimism”. 



In an interview with the Radio Times, Dimbleby said: “I don’t think anyone could say that Corbyn has had a fair deal at the hands of the press, in a way that the Labour party did when it was more to the centre, but then we generally have a rightwing press.”

Dimbleby also echoed another trope of Corbyn’s supporters by suggesting the Labour leader has more support among the public than he does among the parliamentary Labour party.

“It’s a very odd election,” Dimbleby said. “If the Conservative story is how Theresa May is the ‘brand leader’, the interesting thing is that a lot of Labour supporters really like and believe in the messages that Jeremy Corbyn is bringing across.

“It’s not his MPs in the House of Commons necessarily, but there is a lot of support in the country.”



Dimbleby, who will break news of the exit polls on the night of 8 June and the unfolding results in the early hours of the following morning, suggested the outcome is not a foregone conclusion.

He said: “My own prediction is that, contrary to the scepticism and lazy pessimism of the newspapers and the British media, it’s going to be a really fascinating night, and it will drive home some messages about our political system and the political appeal of different parties that no amount of polling or reading the papers will tell us.

“Polls? You can have them until the cows come home. For me, the exit poll is the starting gun for a political rollercoaster ride, and a night of thrills and spills.”

Corbyn supporters, particularly among the Momentum group, have long complained of media bias and have frequently heckled journalists at Corbyn’s campaign appearances.

Others have said that Dimbleby himself is biased against Corbyn:</s>These are external links and will open in a new window

Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn attempted to convince a live studio audience they should be the next prime minister in a special general election programme.

Mr Corbyn was quizzed about his foreign policy views, past campaigning in Northern Ireland and tax-raising plans.

Mrs May defended her social care reforms and was repeatedly asked if she had changed her mind on Brexit.

The leaders did not appear together, as Mrs May declined to take part in a head-to-head encounter.
• Live: Reaction to Corbyn and May questions
• All you need to know about the general election

The Labour leader chose to be first up in the Battle for Number 10 show, which was broadcast by Sky News and Channel 4, after winning a coin toss.

In a Q&A with the studio audience, a small business owner attacked Mr Corbyn's "ruthless short-sighted policies" such as increasing corporation tax and putting VAT on private school fees.

"This country is badly divided between the richest and the poorest," the Labour leader replied, asking the man whether he was "happy" that children were going to school hungry and being taught in "supersized" classes.

Mr Corbyn was also pressed on his previous campaigning in Northern Ireland, with an audience member accusing him of attending a commemoration for members of the IRA, an Irish paramilitary group.

The Labour leader said he had been seeking a "dialogue" in the 1970s and 1980s and that he had marked a minute's silence "for everyone who died in Northern Ireland".

He would not be drawn on whether he would order a drone strike strike against a terrorist plotting overseas to attack the UK.

"I would want know the circumstances," Mr Corbyn said.

"You can't answer a hypothetical question without the evidence. It is a completely hypothetical question."

He was also asked back-to-back questions on Brexit - one from a Leave voter calling for immigration controls and another from an unhappy Remain supporter.

Answering the first, he refused to set a target for migration numbers, saying Labour would act to prevent the undercutting of wages.

He then told the Remain supporter Labour had to "accept the reality of the referendum".

Mr Corbyn, a committed republican, was asked by Jeremy Paxman on why abolishing the Monarchy was not in Labour's manifesto.

"It's not in there because we are not going to do it," he replied, adding that he had "a very nice chat with the Queen".

He was also challenged on his comments at the time of the 1982 Falklands War, which he reportedly called a "Tory plot".

Mr Corbyn said he had been pressing for a "stopping" of the conflict, and that the UN should have had the chance to prevent it from happening.

He said he described the death of Osama Bin Laden as a "tragedy" because he wanted him to be arrested and put on trial.

And he also defended using the term "friends" towards the militant Islamist group Hamas, calling it "inclusive language" at a meeting where he had been promoting the need for a two-state solution in the Middle East.

Mrs May was asked about the Tories' planned reforms to the way social care is funded, with a man in the audience describing the changes as a "dementia tax".

The PM confirmed an overall cap would be put on costs, which had not been included in the Tories' election manifesto, but did not say where this would be set.

Mrs May promised a consultation document would be published and that she would listen to charities and voters on where the cap should be, adding that the social care system would "collapse" without reform.

She would also not set a level at which the winter fuel allowance will be taken away - the Tories have said richer pensioners will no longer receive the benefit.

"I've met pensioners who have said they don't think they should get that winter fuel payment," she said.

She was repeatedly asked by Mr Paxman whether she had changed her mind on Brexit - having campaigned for a Remain vote before the referendum.

"I take the view that we can make a success of Brexit," she said, adding that the referendum had "drawn a line" under the Remain versus Leave debate.

Having repeatedly ruled out calling a general election, she said her decision to trigger it was because of rival parties "trying to frustrate the process".

And like Mr Corbyn, she would not commit to an "exit bill" figure she would be prepared to pay as the UK leaves the EU.

"It's a question of getting the right deal for us," she said.

On immigration, the former home secretary defended the repeated failure to hit the government's target of reducing net migration to below 100,000.

She said there was "no single measure" to change immigration figures, describing it as a "constant work".

Lib Dem Tim Farron said both leaders had committed a series of "blunders".

He claimed Mr Corbyn had made an unfunded commitment to lift the welfare cap, and Mrs May would not say how many people would be hit by a "dementia tax".

The SNP's Patrick Grady said: "I think we've found out why the prime minister has been so reluctant to take part in leaders' debates tonight."

Plaid Cymru criticised the lack of mentions of Wales, and the Green Party said Mrs May had "avoided the question" on her "unfair" social care reforms.</s>Jeremy Corbyn's Labour project is 'only beginning' and he will try to cling on to power even if he is defeated in the General Election, a shadow cabinet minister suggested last night.

Ian Lavery, the party's campaigns chief, said the Labour leadership is embarking on a 'long, long process of changing politics in Britain'.

And he said that 'whatever happens' with the vote on June 8 the Corbyn project will not end.

His comments come after the Labour leader told Buzzfeed said he would stay on as leader if he loses the election - comments he later denied saying but were posted in full online.

Mr Lavery told a cheering crowd in Scotland: 'People don't want austerity, people have had enough of cuts. Today's economy is completely fractured – it's broken, it only serves the rich and the wealthy and we'll change that.

'We want change that and we're in the process – it will be a long, long, long process, of changing politics in Britain. Whatever happens at the election isn't the end of the Corbyn project, it's only the beginning of the Corbyn project.'

The remarks will infuriate moderate Labour MPs who desperately want to see the back of Mr Corbyn and his left-wing policies.

They have refrained from publicly criticising the Labour leader in the hope that if they lose on June 8 he will 'own' the defeat and have to go.

But some of his allies have been laying the groundwork for him to stay even if Labour loses seats.

They claim that Mr Corbyn should be allowed to keep his job if he matches the 30.4 per cent of the vote share garnered under Ed Miliband in 2015.

Meanwhile, a series of polls have shown that the Tory lead has been slashed in recent weeks.

An ORB survey for the Sunday Telegraph published this weekend put Labour on 38 per cent - just six points behind the Tories.

An Opinium poll for The Observer found the Tory advantage had fallen from 13 to 10 points over the past week.

It put Mrs May's party on 45 per cent and Labour on 35 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats were put at seven per cent ) and Ukip on five per cent.

A ComRes survey for the Sunday Mirror and Independent showed the gap between the parties narrowing from 18 to 12 points over the past fortnight.

It put the Tories on 46 per cent and Labour on 34 per cent - up four points.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn debates with Conservative leader Theresa May.