UK PM May’s lead widens ahead of June 8 election – ORB poll

Jeremy Corbyn has challenged Theresa May to spell out the impact of her “dementia tax” social care policy in the final days of the General Election campaign. Here are five key takeaways.

May had said she was too busy “thinking about Brexit negotiations” and “meeting voters” to take part in the debate.

May (pictured below), who campaigned against Brexit as then Home Secretary during last June’s Brexit referendum, said she had “absolute, resolute determination to respect the will of the British people” in the talks.

Tonight Jeremy Corbyn faced his toughest media appearance of the campaign as he took questions from a live studio audience in the Question Time Leaders Special.

When Mrs May announced the snap election in mid-April, analysts suggested that she was seeking a mandate to lead the country personally through its exit from the European Union (EU).

Do you want to know the real victor was though tonight?

Mr Corbyn swung the election’s focus onto the importance of tackling the “grossly imbalanced” economy, rather than the themes of leadership and Brexit favoured by the Tories. Asked about deaths caused by the IRA, he would only say all deaths are wrong.

She said: “I don’t understand why everyone in this room seems so keen on killing millions of people”.

If the latest polls are wrong – and they have previously underestimated Conservative support – and May wins a sizeable victory, she will axe current finance minister Philip Hammond and replace him with Interior Minister Amber Rudd, the Daily Telegraph reported. “On the contrary we want people to keep more of their earnings”. Another poll this week said the lead was down to three points.

In awkward scenes, Mrs May listened as a partially sighted voter who had waited 18 months for counselling became emotional as she recounted a bad experience with the Work Capability Assessment.

“I’m not going to make any excuses for the experience you had”, Mrs May said.

Labour have been making hay with images from earlier in the year of Mrs May and Mr Trump holding hands during her visit to the US.

She added: “We are putting record levels of funding into the NHS and will continue to put money into the NHS”.

The Labour leader has openly called for an end to Trident, the UK’s nuclear weapons program, but has been forced to agree with its renewal after losing an internal party debate.

After saying he thinks the “idea of anyone ever using a nuclear weapon anywhere in the world is utterly appalling and terrible”, he ruled out authorising its “first use”.

“We are not doing deals, we are not doing coalitions, we are not doing any of these things”, Mr Corbyn said on Thursday. “I will decide on the circumstances at the time”, Mr Corbyn said.

Other recent polls have also shown that May’s lead, which stood at more than 20 points when she called the campaign, has been eaten away, meaning she might no longer win the landslide she had hoped for.

Image copyright Nick Robinson 5.

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