Corbyn cop-out! Labour leader drops out of television debates after horror BBC interview
JEREMY CORBYN has decided to not take part in two television debates this week following a disastrous interview with Andrew Neill.
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It emerged that the Labour leader decided not to take part in two televised debates this week, with news outlets being forced to cancel scheduled leaders’ debates. Among them, Sky News terminated a debate on Thursday after both Boris Johnson and Mr Corbyn refused to sign up to the programme.
The BBC had also planned on airing a seven -way debate between party leaders on Friday night, but will now feature Rebecca Long-Bailey, the shadow business secretary, in Mr Corbyn’s place.
Sky sources confirmed they had been forced to cancel their three-way debate between Mr Johnson, Mr Corbyn and Jo Swinson, after Mr Johnson and Mr Corbyn refused to sign up.
Their joint refusal came following Mr Johnson’s insistence that he would not feature in a climate debate hosted by Channel 4, despite dire environmental warnings from the UN just hours before.
Mr Corbyn, however, is set to appear on the debate panel, which will see all party leaders - bar Mr Johnson - discuss and debate solutions to the climate crisis.
Channel 4 has since threatened to empty seat the Prime Minister, as has been a common theme with Conservative figures who have refused to turn up for scheduled interview slots.
Earlier this month, Kay Burley blasted Tory chairman James Cleverly after he failed to show up to a Sky News interview.
Ms Burley continued with the interview, empty chairing Mr Cleverly and asking questions she would have asked should he had turned up.
Mr Cleverly claims he was never booked for the interview, though Sky insist it was pre-arranged.
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Similarly, last week, Channel 4 were forced to cancel a leaders debate after Mr Johnson refused to take part despite Mr Corbny's confirmed spot.
Krishna Guru-Murthy, who was set to host the debate, tweeted: “After weeks of negotiations Boris Johnson’s team didn’t want him to go head to head with Jeremy Corbyn on Channel 4.”
Negotiators on behalf of Mr Johnson attempted to replace the Prime Minister with Michael Gove for the Sky News debate, but the news outlet refused, preferring to cancel the debate than have someone speak on Mr Johnson's behalf.
The Daily Telegraph speculate that Mr Corbyn’s decision to scale-back his TV appearances may be a result of his being the least popular leader of the opposition of the past 45 years.
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It contrasts to his resurgence in 2017 when the Labour leader was largely regarded as having stumped Theresa May, and garnered popular support following his agreeing to debate the then Tory Prime Minister during a seven-way BBC debate - of which Ms May refused to partake.
Earlier this week, Lord Kerslake a senior advisor to Labour, hinted that the party may be readying to replace Mr Corybn as party leader for a power-sharing deal with the SNP and Liberal Democrats.
The peer was, however, quickly and severely criticised by sources close to Mr Corbyn, who said a change in the party leadership was “not on the table”.
The Lord reasoned that an alliance could never take place considering Ms Swinson’s dogged opposition to Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
He said this leaves a question mark over the Labour leader’s ability to continue running the opposition party.
Labour has struggled to catch up with the Tories in opinion polls, with Mr Corbyn’s popularity ratings or lack thereof pointing towards the reason why.
Figures associated with and involved in Labour have previously questioned Mr Corbyn’s leadership.
Former Labour MP Ian Austin last month denounced Mr Corbyn and endorsed the Tories, explaining: “I must do everything I can to stop Jeremy Corbyn from getting into power.”
More recently, former Labour Prime Minister, Tony Blair, warned a majority Labour Government would “pose a risk” to the country.
He went on to say that the chances of Labour winning a majority were “negligible”.
Allies of Mr Corbyn responded furiously to Lord Kerslake’s claims, with one shadow cabinet minister describing them as “deeply disappointing”.
Another party insider was explicit in their reservations about Lord Kerslake, explaining that his growing influence within the party had been noted by Mr Corbyn’s inner circle.