General Election 2017: Tory HQ calls for MPs to tweet these five attack lines during leaders debate

The party's social media team is keen to get their message out on Brexit, immigration and the IRA

Tory HQ wants MPs to focus on Jeremy Corbyn's softness on Brexit and immigration and his alleged IRA links (Getty)

As Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn prepare to face a grilling from Jeremy Paxman and Sky’s Faisal Islam this evening, Conservative HQ has briefed loyal party MPs to stick to just five main attack lines on Twitter.

In an email sent by Conservative HQ, seen by journalist Alex Wickham, MPs are supposed to use the hashtag #BattleforNumber10 to highlight the differences between Ms May and Mr Corbyn’s leadership and attack the Labour leader’s record.

Some of the points raised include:

• Brexit: They are keen to highlight that the negotiations will start just 11 days after the election and Jeremy Corbyn would be disastrous leading them – threatening jobs, immigration and security. 
• The IRA: Building on recent criticism of Mr Corbyn for allegedly sharing platforms with members of  suspected terrorists, the Tories want to highlight previous policy positions he has taken including “abolishing our nuclear defences, dismantle our Armed Forces and quitting Nato”.
• Immigration: They have made getting net migration down to the “tens of thousands” and are aiming for Hard Brexit. Meanwhile they say Mr Corbyn is soft on immigration and his shadow Chancellor, John McDonnell, is in favour of open borders. 
• Strong and stable: MPs were also reminded to repeat their favourite catchphrase about their leader. 

During the debate, this messaging could be seen from the Conservatives main social media account:

Although this sort of political messaging is not new to any major party, the Conservatives have been criticised for running a bland and repetitive campaign.

Ms May has been accused of refusing to meet with real voters, preferring set piece speeches surrounding by Tory supporters.

She was also mocked for an interview with Andrew Marr at the start of the campaign when he challenged her to answer a question without using sound bites and lasted just 30 seconds.

Others have criticised her for refusing to debate with Mr Corbyn one on one. Instead both leaders are being grilled by a studio audience and then by Jeremy Paxman or Faisal Islam.