London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

General election 2019: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn clash over Brexit in BBC debate

Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn clashed over Brexit in the final head-to-head debate before the 12 December election.

During the live debate, Mr Corbyn said Labour would bring Brexit "to an end" by negotiating a new deal and putting it back to the public in a referendum, alongside a Remain option.

Mr Johnson said he had "a wonderful deal", and would use it to take the UK out of the EU on 31 January.

Other topics covered included the NHS, security and Northern Ireland.

Early on in the debate - hosted by Today presenter Nick Robinson - the Labour leader said he would negotiate a new withdrawal agreement with the EU within three months before putting it to a final say referendum - alongside Remain - within six months.

The prime minister countered by saying he already had a withdrawal agreement in place, and would use it to leave the EU next month if he won a working majority in Parliament.

But Nick Robinson challenged Mr Johnson, pointing out that while he had a withdrawal deal in place, he did not have a trade deal with the EU, and so could not rule out a no-deal exit in January 2021.

Coming into the event, Labour and the Conservatives had spent the day arguing over how Mr Johnson's Brexit deal might affect Northern Ireland.

Labour said a leaked document showed Mr Johnson's agreement would have a "devastating" impact on Northern Ireland.

When the subject arose in the debate, Mr Corbyn said of his rival: "He spoke at a DUP conference and said there would be no [trade] restrictions [after Brexit] whatsoever, we now know there are restrictions."

But Mr Johnson was met with applause from the audience when he said he found it "slightly curious" to be lectured about the union by Mr Corbyn, referring to the Labour leader's past support for those who want to see a united Ireland.

Like Brexit, the NHS has featured heavily in the campaign so far - and Friday's debate was no different.

Faith, a student nurse in the audience, asked how each leader would deal with a shortage of NHS nurses.

The Conservative leader said a government run by him would "encourage nurses overseas to come" to the UK "by shortening the time for their visa applications" and by reintroducing bursaries for training.

Mr Corbyn described the NHS as at "breaking point", adding that, under a Labour government, "£40bn in total would go into the NHS in order to fund it properly".

The Labour leader also repeated one of his main attack lines of the campaign - that a Tory government would allow the NHS to form part of a future trade deal with the US.

However, Mr Johnson described that claim as "Bermuda Triangle stuff".

Responding to the performances of Mr Corbyn and Mr Johnson, SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: "That was utterly woeful. Two uninspiring men, both of them unsuited to be PM."

Meanwhile, Amelia Womack, of the Green Party, told the BBC: "I find it frustrating, as a younger woman, that we weren't discussing things that are relevant to my generation - whether that's house prices, rental prices, freedom of movement across Europe, or even zero-hour contracts."

Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts said the debate felt like a "shoddy end-of-term pantomime", and said both men displayed a "lack of honesty".

She added that, contrary to the claims of Mr Johnson, the "chaos" of Brexit "is going to go on", even if the UK leaves the EU next month.

And the Liberal Democrat Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said: "Tonight's debate was British politics at its worst. Two leaders offering nothing new, nothing different and neither being honest about the pain Brexit will cause our communities."

The prime minister and Mr Corbyn were also asked about security - an issue that has risen to prominence since the London Bridge attack on 29 November.

Both candidates were asked by an audience member if they would prioritise the safety of citizens over human rights.

Mr Corbyn said the choice was "not an either/or".

He added the UK could not have security "on the cheap", and so Labour would "back the police up" with an increase in officer numbers.

When it came to his turn, Mr Johnson referred to the London Bridge attack, and said it was "extraordinary and wrong" that the attacker was given automatic early release from prison after an earlier terrorism conviction.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×