Theresa May refuses to say if her Brexit deal will leave the UK better off in This Morning interview
Theresa May has refused to say if the UK will be better off under her Brexit deal.
In an interview on ITV’s This Morning, the prime minister repeatedly avoided the question of her Brexit strategy would mean for the country.
She told This Morning hosts Philip Schofield and Rochelle Humes: “We can be better off.”
But when Mr Schofield asked her if that means “we will be”, she replied: “That’s up to us.”
Asked by Mrs Humes, “Will we be better off?”, the prime minister dodged the question.
Instead, she said: “A lot of people ask this question. I believe we can be better off. But it’s not just about the deal.”
She also told This Morning she is “keen” to have a Brexit debate with Jeremy Corbyn but fears that holding it on ITV would mean she missed Strictly Come Dancing.
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The government and Labour are at loggerheads over whether to accept a BBC proposal for the discussion, favoured by Downing Street, or that of the commercial broadcaster, which Labour prefers.
Opposition leader Mr Corbyn last week complained on This Morning that the BBC’s proposal would clash with jungle-based reality show I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
On Monday, Mrs May used the same platform to bemoan missing its ballroom dancing-based rival.
A head-to-head debate between the party leaders is due to take place on December 9, just two days before MPs are due to vote on her Withdrawal Agreement.
Mrs May told This Morning: “I’m keen to have a head-to-head with Jeremy Corbyn, I hope this actually goes through.
“He said he wanted to be on ITV so he could watch the final of I’m a Celebrity… I think his proposal meant that I would miss Strictly.
“I hate to say this on ITV but I’m a bit of a Strictly fan.”
'I've got a deal that delivers what people voted for'.
Prime Minister Theresa May on her Brexit vision. pic.twitter.com/L3kUbeInV4
— This Morning🎄 (@thismorning) December 3, 2018
She added that which channel would host the programme was still “being worked out”, with less than a week to go until it is supposed to go ahead.
It came after leading Tory Eurosceptics warned that the BBC’s planned leaders’ TV debate would “breach the concept of impartiality” unless it involves a prominent Brexiteer.
The Daily Telegraph reported Boris Johnson, Dominic Raab and other former Cabinet ministers have written to BBC chairman Sir David Clementi to complain the views of the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit would be “nowhere represented” in the discussion.
They noted that both Mrs May and Mr Corbyn voted Remain in the referendum, adding: “They are both wedded to slightly different models of staying in the customs union.”
They said that a senior Brexiteer should be included in the main line-up and not just on a proposed panel.
“This is, after all, not a general election and the Government or the opposition cannot be allowed to play fast and loose with representative democracy,” they said.