Jeremy Corbyn interview: Five key moments from the Labour leader's clash with Andrew Neil

Tim Baker27 November 2019
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Jeremy Corbyn faced a grilling last night from BBC broadcaster Andrew Neil ahead of the upcoming general election.

The Labour leader was quizzed by the veteran broadcaster on a range of subjects including anti-Semitism in the party, a £60bn promise to WASPI women and how the Islington North parliamentary candidate would not support his own Brexit deal.

The interview came after Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis wrote in The Times that Labour's handling of the anti-Semitism issue that has dogged the party under Mr Corbyn's leadership was "incompatible" with British values.

Recent polling has shown that the gap between the Labour Party and the Conservative party is narrowing, but the data does not yet account for the events over the past 36 hours.

The Evening Standard has picked out five key moments from the interview.

General Election 2019 - In pictures

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1) Refusing to apologise four times to the Jewish community over the anti-Semitism crisis in the Labour Party

Following Chief Rabbi Mirvis’ intervention in The Times, Mr Corbyn refused four times to apologise to the Jewish community about anti-Semitism allegations that have dogged Labour under his leadership.

Chief Rabbi Mirvis stated that it was a “mendacious fiction” that, as Mr Corbyn claimed, every single case of anti-Semitism had been investigated.

However Mr Corbyn stated that the Jewish elder was wrong.

He went on to state that he was “looking forward to having a discussion” with the Chief Rabbi.

Mr Corbyn said the Chief Rabbi, right, was "not right" about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party
Reuters/ PA

2) Confusion over where £60bn for WASPI women will come from

Earlier this week, Labour promised to fill the £60bn hole required to bail out the WASPI women, who dispute how changes to the retirement age have been made.

This promise was not part of the party’s manifesto and the associated costing.

When asked by Mr Neil about how they would find the money, Mr Corbyn struggled to answer.

He first tried to say why he wanted to provide the money, dodging Mr Neil’s question.

After being pressed - several times - Mr Corbyn said he would pay for it from Government reserves and extra borrowing.

Mr Corbyn struggled to answer when asked how he would find £60bn
AP

3) Admitting that people earning under £80,000 would be taxed

Following the launch of their manifesto, Labour said there would only be tax rises for those earning more than £80,000.

But Mr Neil pointed out two different scenarios where people making less than that would have to fork out more to a government under Mr Corbyn.

The first was the scrapping of the marriage allowance, which allows couples who are married or in a civil partnership to get £250 in tax relief even if one of them earns below the tax threshold of around £12,000 pa.

The second point Mr Neil made was that with a rise in dividend taxes, retirees could see their income tax bill rise from £9 to £400 while only bringing in £14,000.

Mr Corbyn argued the first was a step towards equality and disputed the figures in the second, before trying to change the subject.

Mr Corbyn's tax policies have been criticised
AFP via Getty Images

4) Refusing to say if he would give the order for a leader of the Islamic State to be killed

When asked if he would give the order for the leader of a terrorist organisation to be killed, Mr Corbyn said: “I will take the appropriate decision at the appropriate time.”

It comes after Mr Corbyn said he would have liked to have arrested IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

Al-Baghdadi died after detonating a suicide vest while his compound was being raided by American forces.

Mr Neil put it to the Labour leader that people did not trust him to make that decision.

Mr Corbyn replied: “Well, Andrew, you have put the question to me whether I believe our country should be kept safe.

“Yes, of course I do. That also means looking at how ISIS grew. Looking at who funded ISIS. They didn’t get their arms from nowhere.”

Mr Corbyn has come under fire for how he deals with terrorists, like Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi
AFP/Getty Images

5) Not saying whether he would support a Brexit deal negotiated by his own Government

The Labour position on Brexit is that they would negotiate a new Brexit deal in three months and hold a new referendum in six months.

However, Mr Corbyn has stated that he would remain neutral during the campaigning on his own deal.

Mr Neil asked him: “So even if you got everything that you wanted in this deal you still wouldn’t ask people to vote for it?”

Mr Corbyn stated the role of the government would be to make sure the choice was put to the people.

When it was pointed out that many people in the shadow cabinet would campaign to remain, Mr Corbyn stated that as Prime Minister he would “make sure that there was a fair debate and fair discussion”.

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