Key points
A rowdy exchange, in which the Speaker interrupted four times to call for order. Jeremy Corbyn returned to a consistent theme this winter: the funding crisis in social care and the broader strain on the NHS. This time he came armed with what he described as leaked texts, exchanged between David Hodge, leader of Surrey county council, and a mystery official named “Nick” in the Department for Communities and Local Government.
Surrey had until this week planned to hold a referendum on a 15% rise in council tax to pay for the spiralling costs of social care, but on Tuesday abandoned the idea. Corbyn said the texts indicated the government had cut a secret deal with Surrey council – presumably to provide extra funding in return for the referendum being called off – and demanded to know the details, and whether the same deal would apply to councils across the country.
He wondered if it was merely coincidence that the health secretary and the chancellor represented Surrey constituencies. Theresa May dodged the question but said every council had been given the opportunity to raise a 3% “precept” to fund social care provision. She accused Corbyn, in a nod to US politics, of presenting “alternative facts” and claimed the Conservatives would spend £0.5tn on the NHS during the course of this parliament, whereas Labour wished to borrow the same amount.
Snap verdict
Flash rhetoric and clever questions are fine at PMQs, but facts are better – and Corbyn demonstrated how nothing beats a good, old-fashioned, leak-inspired ambush. His first two questions were a bit vague and waffly, he sought to lay a trap with his third, but then he surprised May with his leaked text allegations and, to his credit, he kept pressing her for an answer as to whether Surrey was getting a special deal for the rest of the session.
It was a successful hit. May stonewalled his questions quite forcefully, but without being able to conceal the fact that she was not answering his key question. Even without Corbyn’s Surrey deepthroat, May’s answers would have been unsatisfactory – she has not got anything substantial to say about her long-term review of care, and her attack lines on Labour on health, about spending, read as if they have come from David Cameron’s pre-2015 PMQs file – but having a strong attack story meant Corbyn easily had the upper hand.
Memorable lines
“Congratulating NHS staff on their hard work is one thing, paying them properly quite another” – Corbyn on NHS funding
“What we get from Labour is alternative facts. What they really need is an alternative leader” – May channels Donald Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway
PMQs verdict: Jeremy Corbyn"s leaked texts give him the upper hand
