A noisy and ill-tempered TV election debate began and ended with Jeremy Corbyn and the UK’s minor parties condemning Theresa May for failing to turn up.
In a seven-way debate, Home Secretary Amber Rudd stood in for the Prime Minister and was attacked over the Government’s record in office in a 90-minute showdown that was at times a shouting match.
Several times, BBC presenter Mishal Hussein, who was chairing the debate, struggled to be heard above the squabbling among the politicians taking part.
It was the clashes between Mr. Corbyn – who only announced hours before the debate that he would take part – and Ms Rudd that were the most heated during the debate, with angry disagreements on the economy, Brexit, immigration and terrorism.
They were joined in the debate in Cambridge by the Lib Dems’ Tim Farron, SNP deputy leader Angus Robertson, Plaid Cymru’s Leanne Wood, Green Party co-leader Caroline Lucas and UKIP leader Paul Nuttall.
And although there was no clear winner among the bickering, Ms Rudd’s combative performance will have boosted her chances of becoming the next Tory Chancellor and a future leader of the party.
Jeremy Corbyn waves to supporters after taking part in the BBC Election Debate
Image: Jeremy Corbyn waves to supporters after taking part in the contest
In her closing remarks at the end of the debate, she said: “You heard the squabbling and discord of disagreement tonight. You saw the coalition of chaos in action.”
It is reported that Ms Rudd took part in the debate just two days after the death of her elderly father on Monday and insisted on taking Mrs May’s place regardless.
After the debate, Labour claimed Mr. Corbyn had won.
The party said: “He showed himself as a leader who wants to change the country for the better, to make it work for the many not just a few. By contrast, Theresa May’s refusal to take part showed her weakness.”
During the debate Mr. Corbyn said there was “nothing remotely strong or stable” about the Tories’ record in office and claimed they would bring in five more years of cuts to public services if re-elected.
But in one of many bitter clashes between the Labour leader and the Home Secretary, a punchy Ms Rudd hit back: “The only question to consider is who should be in No 10 to steer Britain to a brighter future?
“Jeremy Corbyn with his money tree, wish-list manifesto and no plan for Brexit, or Theresa May with her record of delivery.”
An angry Mr. Corbyn was then applauded when he immediately shot back: “Have you been to a food bank? Have you seen people sleeping around our stations?
“Have you seen the levels of poverty that exist because of your government’s conscious decisions on benefits?”
The Home Secretary then faced groans from the audience as she defended the Tory record on welfare, insisting: “We are a party who will always support those in most need.”
And attacking Mr. Corbyn again, she said: “I know there is no extra payment you don’t want to add to, no tax you don’t want to rise. We have to stop thinking, as you do, that there is a magic money tree.”
She said: “It’s as though he thinks it’s some sort of game – a game of Monopoly perhaps where you ask the banker for the red money to pay electrics, the green money to buy the railways and the yellow money to buy the gasworks.
“It’s not like that. This is people’s hard-earned money. We will protect that. We won’t roll the dice.”
Ms Lucas, who performed strongly throughout, said Ms Rudd’s response on disability benefits was “downright insulting”.
Mr. Nuttall, answering a question on immigration, said current levels were “unsustainable” and that UKIP would take action to bring the numbers coming into the country under control.
“We would do it by having an Australian-style points system so that if you’ve got the skills this country needs, yes, please come here and work, but beyond that we have to get the population under control,” he said.
Mr. Farron accused the Conservatives of running an immigration policy to “appease UKIP”, and drew applause when he highlighted the case of an Asian doctor who was spat at and abused as he returned home after treating the injured in the Manchester bomb attack.
“That is what happens if you demonise immigrants,” he said.
“Do we need, as I’m afraid the Prime Minister has done for the last seven years, to set completely barmy, bogus targets that she fails to meet every year. No we don’t.”
Theresa May repeatedly explains her logic for not participating in a TV debate with other party leaders
It was Mr Robertson who led the attack on the Conservatives on their manifesto policies on social care and the winter fuel payment, demanding answers on who would lose out from the “dementia tax”.
He challenged her: “I think those people deserve to know by how much they will lose out. The Prime Minister didn’t have the guts to come along this evening to tell us.”
At that point the Home Secretary was laughed at by the audience as she called for people to “judge us on our record” on the public finances.
“We have cut the deficit, we have reduced taxes for the lowest paid and we have made sure that we have continued to invest in the NHS, which is getting another £8bn a year by the end of this parliament,” she said.
But the only way to have the money to invest, she said, is through having a strong economy “which does sometimes mean making difficult choices, those sorts of choices no other party here is prepared to face up to”.
Ms Rudd said the plans would mean winter fuel payments will not be paid to millionaires but would not give specific figures.