A perfect example of how Corbyn’s inability to think on his feet lets him down

Today’s Prime Minister’s Questions was a good example of how Jeremy Corbyn’s inability to be nimble on his feet lets him down.

The Labour leader had a perfect peg for his questions about social care, which was last night’s leak of recordings in which Surrey Council leader David Hodge spoke of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’. His first question was a good one, asking the Prime Minister to explain the difference between a ‘sweetheart deal’ and a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’. May denied that there was a special deal for Surrey, and repeated that denial in subsequent answers. But what Corbyn didn’t pick up on was the careful wording of May’s denial. She said:

‘If he’s asking if there was a special deal for Surrey that was not available to other councils, the answer is no.’

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The qualification ‘that was not available to other councils’ means that there could have been a special deal for Surrey.