LONDON (AP) – Prime Minister Theresa May and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn faced tough questions and a skeptical audience in a live TV event Monday night ahead of next week’s parliamentary elections.
It was not a debate, but did air policy and stylistic differences between the two foes. They did not appear together but were questioned separately by members of the audience and by aggressive interviewer Jeremy Paxman.
The June 8 election pits May, the Conservative Party leader who opposed Brexit before the referendum last June but now favors it, against Corbyn, who has alienated many longtime Labour supporters with his hard-left views.
The “Battle for Number 10” show broadcast on Sky News and Channel 4 brought the two prime contenders together in the same studio at the same time, but they did not appear together at any point. Voters are not likely to get a true debate before the vote.
Facing harsh questioning from Paxman, one of Britain’s best known TV journalists, May defended her about-face on Brexit. She rebuffed his repeated attempts to get her to say whether she now thinks leaving the European Union is a good idea, saying only that the British voters have decided and that she is determined to get the best deal possible.