Express & Star

Al Corbyn goes in all guns blazing...but then forgets to ask PM a question

"It's a racket!" Jeremy Corbyn yelled in his best impression of Al Capone – sporting a Che beret rather than a fedora, obviously.

Published
Al Capone

Opposite him stood a weary looking Theresa May, raising her revolver in defiance as the Labour leader attempted to subject her to a Commons massacre.

The focus of Corbyn's ire was Carillion, an issue he rightly chose to hammer at for his entire section rather than adopting the scattergun approach of Corbyn circa early 2016.

His inquiries were focused and direct – apart from the one time when he went on a lengthy rant and forget to ask a question at the end.

"As he didn't actually ask a question I cannot give an answer," May rightly pointed out.

Corbyn attempted to use Carlllion's failure to open up the argument on private sector contracting as a whole.

"These corporations need to be shown the door," he bellowed, before rallying against a 'broken system' that saw him draw on Virgin and Capita for more evidence of mismanagement.

His tub-thumping was lauded by those on the Labour frontbench, while the Tories waited with bated breath to see if May had any bullets left.

She hadn't quite run out of ammo, and landed a fair blow by accusing Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell of being anti-business – which admittedly is like accusing Donald Trump of disliking Mexicans.

In her defence, the embattled PM made no major blunders during the heated session – but she told us nothing we didn't already know either.

This isn't exactly a new dawn for May, who hasn't yet managed to shake off the stink of the Tory election campaign. It's likely she never will.

But surely both her and Corbyn must realise that this is not the time for politicking?

With Carillion's failure threatening thousands of jobs, the public has little interest in seeing either leader engage in one-upmanship.

It meant Mrs May's attempts to wring her hands and claim the Government is merely a customer of Carillion came across as a blatant attempt to pass the buck.

Will the Prime Minister grasp the nettle and make firms such as Carillion take more responsibility in future?

I wouldn't hold your breath.