Theresa May savaged Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minster’s Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday as she accused him of failing to understand the single market.
Tory backbenchers shouted “More!” as May quoted from the Labour Leader’s Tuesday interview for Sky News.
“What he said was the following: ‘She has said to leave the single market then at the same time says she wants to have access to the single market..’”, she said.
“’...I’m not sure how that’s going to go down in Europe. I think we have to have a deal that ensures we have access to the market.’
“I’ve got a plan, he doesn’t have a clue.”
The showdown came after Corbyn mocked the Prime Minister for trying to “have her cake and eat it” after she outlined her Brexit strategy in a landmark speech on Tuesday.
Confronting May on the issue at PMQs, Corbyn said: “Theresa May has made clear that she is determined to use Brexit to turn Britain into a bargain basement tax haven on the shores of Europe.”
To groans he said the PM was “not so much the iron lady, but the irony lady”.
In response May told ministers: “Yesterday I set out my plan for global Britain. I set out a plan to put the divisions of last year behind us.”
“To show a vision for a stronger, fairer, more united, more outward looking, prosperous, tolerant and independent and truly global Britain.
“My aim is to shape a stronger future and build a better Britain.”
Asked if Corbyn understood the difference between membership and access to the single market a Labour spokesperson insisted he did.
“He certainly does. We have had discussions before about membership of the single market. There isn’t actually any such thing. But there are a set of rules and regulations, treaties, directives, judgments which govern the way the single market operates”, they said.
“We’ve always pressed the case for the priority of tariff-free access. The single market is a process rather than a membership institution.”
Despite May’s poor track record at PMQs, Wednesday’s exchange was seen as a victory by Twitter pundits: