Leaders Special Reaction Question Time

Welcome to the University of York. I'm in the spin room when we have

been watching the debate. 45 minutes each of hard

grilling by members of the public for the Prime Minister

and for the Labour What's come out very clearly is that

Theresa May is still under pressure to detail exactly what she hopes

to get for Britain out of Brexit, while Mr Corbyn

was pressed on whether he'd press the nuclear button,

his plans for corporation tax, They weren't easy questions by any

means, and Theresa May will be 45 minutes each of hard

grilling by members of the public for the Prime Minister

and for the Labour What's come out very clearly is that

Theresa May is still under pressure to detail exactly what she hopes

to get for Britain out of Brexit, while Mr Corbyn

was pressed on whether he'd press the nuclear button,

his plans for corporation tax, and other controversies

such as anti-semitism They weren't easy questions by any

means, and Theresa May will be hoping it will have some impact

in the Conservatives favour after a week of disappointing

polls. Let's speak to Labour's Joint

General Election Coordinator Chief, Andrew Gwynne, and the Brexit

Secretary, David Davis. It would appear that people were

very concerned. It was an assured performance by the Prime Minister.

She made. A free trade agreement, trade with the rest of the world,

building into a plan to pay for public services. She showed clearly

what she was made off and was very good in her answers. The other side

of the coin was we had Jeremy Corbyn who was weak on immigration, the

economy, defence, slippery on anti-Semitism and clearly not the

man to take the Brexit negotiations. The first question to Theresa May,

how can we trust you after detailing a number of things where the viewer

was feeling let down. Do you feel she has that? The audience were not

patsies, they were very clear in their questions. She has plainly.

This is about trust and making the decisions that need to be made, the

decision to call the election to enable us to do a good Brexit deal,

she was very plain and her answers as she did not dark any questions,

unlike Jeremy Corbyn. -- she did not dark any questions. A very angry

nurse who was cheered when she said, are we not worth it? It is not weak

to say we need to have the money to pay the bill. We are raising 8

million extra for the National Health Service. That is taking the

question right on. She did this on issues of disability and others. She

made it plain. We have to run the economy well, to generate the money

to deliver the public services, something we can do and have done

over the years. We are joined by Labour's campaign coordinator.

Jeremy Corbyn did not answer the question about the red button, he

did answer. He said that he would not want the first strike. The

important thing here is that no Labour Government, no conservative

Government has ever been put in that position where they have had to

press the red button. The clue is in the name. It is called a nuclear the

current. If we ever find ourselves in a situation where we have to

press the button first, the deterrent has not worked. I agree

with Jeremy Corbyn that we want to live in a world that is free from

nuclear weapons. The way we do that, and the Conservatives are signed up

to that, exactly, your policy is multilateral disarmament. The

problem is that nuclear the current -- nuclear deterrents depends on

their credibility. What would happen if we were under attack? He was

explicit that he would not use first use. He was very clear. The audience

were not happy with that. No Labour Government will ever put the

security of our nation at stake. I have to say, David, there is no

credibility from Theresa May who was weak and wobbly, failing to give out

assurances to pensioners that they will not lose their winter fuel

allowance, what the cap will be on social care, this is what people

want to know. The audience will make their judgment. She said we have to

pay for this, deal with an issue that is exploding in size, 2 million

extra people over the age of seven to five in the next decade, and we

need to find a way to pay for it. -- over the age of 75. It will protect

people from paying too much but it will help to fund a good social care

for everyone. We can talk about Brexit, an issue close to you. She

has said before that she would not give out details of the

negotiations. Do you think the public where is that? The public

have had the opportunity to read 100 pages of the aims and strategy, two

white papers, 6000 word speech, there is 5-page letter to Brussels,

the Article 50 letter, and any number of speeches from the in the

House of Commons. There is a vast amount of information out there and

she has made it very plain. Some of it is controversial, son says no

deal is better than a bad deal, we would be willing to walk away. Let

me finish my sentence. That is not offered by the Labour Party, so they

have to accept any deal but is offered to them. That is not

correct. You know we will go on with the aim of getting the best possible

deal that we can. The aim is no good with overleveraged. -- no good

without Loveridge. You know the only deal on the table to the United

Kingdom if we walk away without a deal from the EU is World Trade

Organisation rules, which means, and I hope you acknowledge this, 10%

tariff increases on cars, 12% extra on close, 40% extra on land. Some of

those numbers are right. That is what it means. The public at

large... We are not going to have no deal. We are going to get it because

we are willing to walk away. The people listening will know that if

you go to buy a House and you say you're going to buy it at any

circumstances, you will pay a high price. But the Labour Party thinks

we will get given things for nothing. This will take a tough and

steely approach, which is generous and open, we want a mutually

beneficial deal, but we know that the bottom line is and they do not.

When you say you are not keen on David Davis and his negotiating

team, they think Europe would like you better? We acknowledge and

accept the result of the referendum but we want to get the best deal for

Britain. You do that by sitting down and explaining that it is mutually

beneficial to have tariff free trade because if you are building planes,

like a bus and so on, we need to make sure that we are bringing bits

and pieces that make those planes into the UK and we are sending bits

over to Europe. Are you not giving away part of your negotiating point

when you say that the first thing you will do is make sure the EU

citizens are going to be protected. If that not part of the negotiation?

You should not reveal your hand. I do not think people's' lives can be

bargaining chips. Whether it is the lives of people who have made their

workplace the United Kingdom or whether it is a British person who

has made their workplace elsewhere in the European Union, I do not want

to see us losing that. That is the problem... They are willing to say

we will solve the 3 million but we will leave the 1 million standing.

We want to solve the four million and we offered this in December, but

the European Union did not agree to deal with that in December. We will

deal with it at the very first... The million British citizens abroad

we cannot deal with. This is why your negotiating strategy is a

fantasy. We saw Jeremy Corbyn as a man who did not is way through the

complexities of this. He did not understand the difficulties of the

negotiation or how to deal with the 27. He will be rolled over in the

Brexit negotiations if he is Prime Minister. It is absolute nonsense of

what people will be voting for on the 8th of June is better public

services and security in old age and a fully costed health service. It is

a question of priorities, because you can find ?70 billion for the top

but you cannot find it for the bottom. I'm going to let you to take

the subway. Thank you. -- take this away. This is what the Prime

Minister had to say about Brexit and the possibility of being punished

during the negotiations. I am confident we can get a good deal

with the right flank but there was a gauche nations because I think a

good deal is in our interests and the interest of the rest of the EU.

We have to be prepared to stand up for Britain. We have to be prepared

to go in there recognising that we are not willing to accept a bad

deal. What is a bad deal? You talk all the time about a bad deal that

you will not accept, can you explain what that would be? On the one hand,

David, you have politicians in Europe who are talking about

punishing the UK believing this year. I think what they want to see

would be a bad deal. Secondly, there are politicians in the United

Kingdom who seem to be willing to accept any deal just for the sake of

getting a deal. The danger is they would be accepting the worst deal at

the worst price. That was the issue of Brexit. Letters top to the deputy

coordinator of the Labour Party campaign. Give me your overview

about how Jeremy Corbyn perform tonight. I think he performed very

well tonight, the questions were a little bit different to what they

were in previous TV appearances, but I think he performed well. People

solved tonight and they have warmed to Jeremy Corbyn because he is

sincere and honest and will answer the question. He did not answer a

crucial question on pushing the red button, there was no answer. The

best question tonight was from the young woman who asked the rest of

the audience why everyone was eager to press a button and incinerate

millions of people across the planet and she got a tremendous round of

applause. That was the best question asked tonight. In terms of money, is

it a letter to Santa Claus, how do you think you dealt with that

question? We are the only party that have got a manifesto with pledges

that are fully costed. We are the only ones who've itemised everything

very clearly, very critically, and that is what the general public

want. They want to see that we can afford and we will look towards the

manifesto, fully costed, and that is not what they have done. They have a

manifesto that has already been shredded and hours hosted the test

of time. You were pointing at Boris Johnson, who joins us now. I thought

that was a fascinating and by opening debate and I can gradually

the BBC for putting it on. Theresa May is kindness serial -- is Prime

Minister material, she got to the point. She did not and so any

question on the public sector and public pay cuts. She never an Saudi

single question. The nurse has to buy beer getting a 1% pay rise. --

she never answered a single question. I thought she was very

clear. We are putting extra money into the NHS. Where will the ?8

billion, from because she would not answer the question about where it

would come from? There is no magic money tree and I think that is a

question you might want to ask this Labour trap. -- Labour chap. The

money will come from the proceeds of growth. The risk is the economy will

tank and be shredded by Labour proposals that you have heard

tonight and seen in their manifesto, to increase taxes on British

businesses. Taxes will be lower than they were... There is something

extraordinary about the content from Jeremy Corbyn towards the guy who

was worried about the impact of taxation. What these people do not

understand is that everybody in this country depends on the success of

those businesses. You do not have the faintest idea. They are a

communist cabal who have taken over this thing and they are not

supported by 75% of Labour MPs. He is one of the few who supports

Jeremy Corbyn, if he is an MP. They have a range of views that date back

to the 1970s, they would take this country backwards and it is not

right for Britain to Dave. I thought Prime Minister Max sketched out a

powerful vision of how to make the most of Brexit to take the country

forward. She sees the opportunities and she is optimistic about what can

be achieved. One final point about Jeremy Corbyn, the most chilling

thing at all is that this is a guy who is standing to be Prime Minister

on the 8th of June and we face all sorts of threats, we cannot

guarantee that we will be immune from nuclear blackmail. This was a

gag who was saying to the world, advertising, if it came to nuclear

blackmail from around or North Korea or anywhere else, Jeremy Corbyn

would be vulnerable to cause he would not press the trigger. The

logic of nuclear deterrents is avoided. It is pointless. The

audience picked this issue up. The nuclear button. All I would say with

regard to the Brexit issue... I want to talk about the nuclear issue. Do

you want this guy and Liam Fox and David Davis to negotiate a Brexit

deal on behalf of this country? I would be devastated to think it was

in their hands. With regards to the nuclear issue, I think what Jeremy

Corbyn said quite clearly is that he would review the situation at that

time. The audience were not convinced by that. He does not want

incinerate millions of people across the globe, Boris would be quite

happy to do that. I don't think you understand the logic of nuclear

deterrents. You do not understand ordinary people. You helped to

coordinate this Labour campaign... Some peace please, Boris. You help

Jeremy Corbyn rehearsed that issue Jeremy Corbyn rehearsed that issue

because it looked like he had not. Do you mind? Stop being so rude.

Jeremy Corbyn, like any politician worth his salt, on a big evening

like this, will discuss all the issues that are likely to be

discussed. Of course he will have discussed everything and prepared

properly because that is the kind of individual he is. We should point

out that the biggest cheer of the evening went to the lady who said

why we talking about nuclear issues? I think millions of people here in

the news that British Minister has advocated the whole of our nuclear

the Tarrant. It is not just our own country that depends on Britain

being strong, we have allies in Nato and around the world who looked to

us for a lead, who believed in Britain and they will be very

disappointed to think that the leader of a major party could

perhaps be on the verge of being Prime Minister next week with that

kind of approach. People in Brussels listening to what he had to say

about Lee you will have been flummoxed. It is not clear whether

he wants to be inside the single market or outside, inside the

customs union or inside. I have to leave it. Here knows that she did

not answer the questions on the public sector and the nurses that

have had a 40% pay cut and having to use food banks. Here's never used

that the bank and heard never been to a good bank. Take it back. I want

to hear... We can hear from Jeremy Corbyn. This is what he said about

the nuclear deterrent. We have to try to protect ourselves, we would

not use it as first use, and, if we did use it, millions are going to

die. I would decide in the circumstances at the time. Would you

use it as second-year so which allowed North Korea or some idiot in

Iran to bomb and then say we better start talking? You would be too

late. Of course not. Of course, I would not do that. You would allow

them to do it. Of course not. That is why I made the point is short

time ago about the need, the need for President Obama's deal with Iran

to be upheld, and to promote disarmament in Korea. That is

difficult... It is impossible... You are asking a massive wish when you

have a massive arsenal by your side. I would rather have it it than not

have it at all, especially in this this day and age. D1 to comment on

that? No. If it was hot in there it is hot in here. Those rows you were

just watching are happening around the room. We can go to Vicky Young

who is behind me getting more reaction. It is a bit more sedate

over here. I am going to disturb the journalists who are filing their

copy. And joined by Robert Hutton from Lindbergh. What do you make of

it? It is the toughest audience she has faced. They both take a

pummelling. It says that in my copy. We got language that was not

parliamentary from Theresa May, she almost said it would word. It was

lively, I thought. She got pressed on social care particularly. She

looked uncomfortable on social care and on nurses, the moment when the

nurse said to her I have not had a pay rise, do not tell me I have had

a pay rise. I'm not sure that replying that there is not a magic

money tree was very wise. That was too much of a sound bite. You did

not have the Clinton moment where she walked over and said that she

felt her pain and asked her to tell her how difficult it was. What did

you think of Jeremy Corbyn? I thought he did all right initially

but then it came unstuck on nuclear weapons and the IRA. For many

people, they do not remembered the IRA and not understand he was part

of the peace process. On nuclear weapons, one woman said that he did

not want to kill millions of people, but it is not about that, it is

about standing up. If you are able to, Jeremy Corbyn does not sing the

national anthem, look scruffy, and he did not do a lot to dispel that.

The Defence Secretary is said that he has never heard a Labour leader

saying that he would not use nuclear weapons. Labour said that to Reza

may does not understand real people, but Jeremy Corbyn does not

understand economics and how to keep the nation safe. Thank you for that.

Let's talk now to Johnathan Bartley of the Green Party.

He joins me from central London. What did you make of the factor was

the audience who kept pushing on this of the nuclear deterrent and

Jeremy Corbyn's willingness or not to push the button? He was going

really well up to that point, he was making a bold and important vision

that we can increase public spending up to the level of Germany, who

spent 44% of their GDP on public spending. It is not being a

communist country it is common sense to invest in public services, like

Germany. But tried and shows he is in a difficult position. -- but

Trident shows that. The money could get a curse of life to the NHS, but

then why we do it to never use it? It is incredible to say we should

not have nuclear weapons, we do not need to the 21st-century, even

Michael Portillo says we do not need it, but to say we have it and not

use it is an incredible position to have. What about climate change?

Theresa May was asked why she did not sign the letter. She said that

she had already spoken to Donald Trump. I thought this was a weak

performance from Theresa May. You can see why she does not want to

debate with anyone, Caroline Lucas would have exposed on this question

is she went head-to-head with her or any other leader. She gives some

details of the phone call and it seems like she just rolled over and

said, OK, you get on with it, but we will not try to persuade you

otherwise. We thought that she had some kind of clout audibility, a

special relationship with Donald Trump, but she's that big a

responsibility or she has no ability to do it, one or the other, very

weak. What would your message have been if it was you on that stage

tonight? I get my turn on Sunday, I am looking forward to it. My heart

went out to Theresa May when she did not seem to know we were giving aid

to North Korea. We should be kinder to our politicians when they do not

know all their facts and figures, we should raise the level of debate. We

would've said that we could be better than this, we can prepare for

the 21st-century and have bold ideas, the kind of thing Jeremy

Corbyn was getting into, a basic income and the length of the working

week, the automation that is good to take away millions of jobs and how

we deal with that. We can have corporation tax capital for small

businesses to create organisations that will withstand the winds of

change, while getting taxes from the big corporations and ending this

corporate welfare that the Conservatives are giving away and

running away the public services because they no longer have the

money to invest in them. Thank you for that. Ten gallon Nicola Sturgeon

will have their chance that a similar event in Edinburgh on

Sunday. Now we can go to Sophie Long, who is outside the venue.

Thank you very much. We are outside the venue and we are joined by four

members of the audience, including Abigail who started proceedings. You

were not messing around. Your question was about trust. It was

about whether we can trust Theresa May to deliver policies and whether

we can trust at all her backsliding. Were you satisfied with her and so?

It wasn't really am so, it was just what she had rehearsed and what she

wanted to see. Not really. In terms of the rest of the debate, what did

you think? It was great, it was great fun and the audience were

lively. But they did dodge questions and they did seem rehearsed. You are

a Ukip photo? That is right. You are a conservative activists. What

question did you put a Jeremy Corbyn and white? The national living wage

is going to lead the people losing their jobs. Jeremy Corbyn wants to

increase the national living wage even further. I asked him for how

many jobs would be lost and he skipped that one and vaguely

answered his next question. Good honest politics was not seen

tonight. Did you learn anything from Jeremy Corbyn? I learnt that he is

allergic to red buttons and that is about it. We will move on to that in

a moment. In terms of Theresa May, you obviously support her, what did

you think of her performance because she became a little bit unstuck on

social care, which you must be prepared for. The main thing people

are criticising her for was the change in manifesto and I think she

was trying to get across that the details were missing from the

manifesto, they have not necessarily been changed. She did a reasonable

job trying to explain it but at some point I think she got flustered,

although Jeremy Corbyn got more flustered. You pick the first

question to him about the nuclear button. What did you think? I came

very open-minded to the discussion on Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May and

I'm still undecided. I had high hopes for Jeremy Corbyn until he did

not answer the question on Trident. So I pushed again on the red button

issue. Basically, he shot me down like an enemy. I had high hopes that

during the Brexit referendum he was conspicuous by his absence, then

through the process that this election he has come out of his

shell and he is going for it and taking a fight to the Tories. But on

this issue, he has no backbone. You asked about his policies on

anti-Semitism, but what did you think about his performance as a

whole and Theresa May? I think they both had strengths and weaknesses

and they both tried to avoid the question are directed to them, but

Jeremy Corbyn says one thing and does another. It is all very well

him saying that he opposes anti-Semitism and he's against

terrorism and racism, but having an anti-Semitic member of his party and

anti-somatic affiliations while calling terrorists as friends. One

word answer, that this evening's debate change the way you think in

any way at all? I am more informed. More informed, not wiser as such.

You are still not sure who to vote for? Not sure. It has reinforced my

views. I was feeling is a pathetic to Jeremy Corbyn but that is

changed. It will maybe you are probably going to spoil your vote.

Is that what you will tonight? I will still boil might -- I will

still spoil my ballot, I do not trust them. I would never vote for

either of those parties. Thank you for being with us tonight. Back to

you in the spin room. Let's talk to achieve political

correspondent. We knew it was going to be difficult for both of them,

but that first question for Theresa May, you did not come talk to the

debate or confront Jeremy Corbyn directly and you did not want a

general election now you do, it was tough.

She came and a hard time about trust, the U-turn and social care,

still a lot of anxiety about that, people bringing their personal

experiences, that disabled man, saying can you give me a guarantee

we will not be made bankrupt by your policy? That is quite hard to

answer. On the plus side, she seemed more steady, more able to talk about

Brexit, you could tell she had really really is that many times,

Jeremy Corbyn, on the other hand, Jeremy Corbyn, on the other hand,

getting a really hard time about Trident, know how he feels about it,

he has been part of the disarmament campaign all his life, and pushed on

when he would use a nuclear weapon, he did not say that he wouldn't, but

it was clear that he felt about it. For him, making his case about the

Labour manifesto, openly saying, we need to put up taxes for better

funding of public services, so both were able to get their policies

across, but the audience went for it, the questions were very

difficult for them to answer, and it is difficult to fob off members of

the public. They do to us journalists all the time, but they

can't do it to them. There was almost a punch-up here a moment ago!

That is as close as I will get to the boxing ring! Sportsday is next

on the BBC News Channel, but from the University of your, from all of

us here, a very good night. -- the University of York.