Yesterday evening after winning her no confidence vote, Theresa May stood up in the House of Commons and offered to hold talks with opposition parties about the Brexit negotiations. Jeremy Corbyn (despite spending the day asking why May hadn’t included Labour in the talks) declined the invitation, saying he would only meet May once she had ruled out a no-deal Brexit. Already that decision, which has left Labour open to accusations of pettiness, seems to be backfiring.
Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner was sent out on the broadcast round this morning to defend the Labour leader’s decision. But as he progressed through the studios, it was clear that Gardiner was becoming increasingly frustrated with the suggestion that Corbyn was playing party politics by refusing to meet the Prime Minister at a time of national crisis.
This came to a head on Sky News, when he has asked what Jeremy Corbyn had to lose ‘by meeting Theresa May face to face’.

Britain’s best politics newsletters
You get two free articles each week when you sign up to The Spectator’s emails.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in