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Theresa May has mocked Jeremy Corbyn’s “incredible” leadership while apparently attempting to make a joke during Prime Minister’s Questions.
The Prime Minister was responding to a question on changes to disability benefits but used her answer to taunt Labour over its defeat to the Conservatives in last week’s by-election in Copeland, Cumbria.
The exchange came during a muted session of Prime Minister’s Questions in which Mr Corbyn pressed Ms May on the issue of changes to Personal Independent Payment (PIP) disability benefits.
The Leader of the Opposition demanded the Government rethink the “nasty” changes, saying they were penalising vulnerable people with mental illnesses.
Ms May responded: “The way that we are dealing with disability benefits is to ensure that payments are going to those who are most vulnerable.
“He talks about funding and about borrowing…I understand the Labour Shadow Health Secretary [Jon Ashworth] today, when asked how Labour would pay for the increase if it was put in place, said ‘Er, we’ve not outlined that yet’", she continued.
“That just sums up the Labour Party and the Labour Party leadership.
Show all 20 1 /20The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Digital Economy Bill • Give every household the legal right to fast broadband – but if they live in some remote areas, they’ll have to pay part of the cost themselves
• Phone and broadband companies to be forced to release details of customer complaints and average broadband speeds
• New powers to allow public bodies like councils and government department to share swathes of data – including unpaid bills
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 3/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Transport Bill • New laws to govern the development of driverless cars, drones and space planes which the Government hopes will encourage investment in the new technologies to take place in the UK
• Making it legal for customers to buy insurance for driverless vehicles
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 4/5
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The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Planning Bill • Giving legal powers to villages and towns to set their own priorities for new housing. They won’t be able to turn down new homes, but they will have a say in where they can be built
• Create a new National Infrastructure Commission to push through big projects such as nuclear power stations and new rail and road links – cutting the amount of time it takes to develop them
Controversy Rating: 3/5
Change Britain Rating: 3/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Jobs Bill • Give powers to local authorities to reduce the level of business rates they charge. City Mayors would also be able to increase rates in some areas to pay for specific infrastructure projects to that would boost local growth
Controversy Rating: 2/5
Change Britain Rating: 2/5
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The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Markets Bill • Making it easier for consumers to switch electricity and gas suppliers
• Cutting down the time it takes for the Competition and Markets Authority to launch investigations into uncompetitive practices
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 3/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Bus Services Bill • Give local authorities and mayors powers to set standards for local buses – including frequency of services and fairs
• Force all bus companies to provide real time information on services to app developers so everyone across the country will have the same ability as Londoners to know when the next bus is coming on their smart phone
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 3/5
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The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 NHS Overseas Charging Bill • Increasing the number of services for which the NHS charges foreign patients
• Reduces the number of people from the European Economic Area who are eligible for free services
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 1/5
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The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Pensions Bill • Capping early exit fees on company pension schemes
• Create a new pensions guidance body to help consumers know their pension rights – and make best use of previous Government reforms allowing pensioners the right to take the money they have saved in a lump sum on retirement to invest how they like
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 3/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Children and Social Work Bill • New obligation on councils to be a ‘corporate parent’ to children in care and look after them even after they have grown up
• Giving all children leaving care a personal advisor to help them find jobs, secure a home and deal with any problems
• Create a new regulator for social work along the lines of Ofsted to drive up standards in the profession
Controversy Rating: 2/5
Change Britain Rating: 3/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Education Bill • Force failing local authorities to convert all the schools in their area to academies
• Reform school funding to address long standing disparities across the country that has disadvantaged schools in some rural areas
Controversy Rating: 3/5
Change Britain Rating: 2/5
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The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Higher Education Bill • Making it simpler and easier for companies and other providers to set up new universities around the country. Ministers want to encourage institutions like Harvard and companies like Google to consider setting up campuses in the UK
• Allowing universities who have been rated "excellent" for teaching to charge more than those who are not
• Law to force universities to publish information about their application processes broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio economic background
Controversy Rating: 2/5
Change Britain Rating: 4/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Prisons and Courts Bill • New law to create ‘reform prisons’ giving governors powers to set their own regimes and budgets
• Obligation to publish re-offending rates by prison
Controversy Rating: 2/5
Change Britain Rating: 4/5
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The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 National Citizen Service Bill • New law to force schools to promote NCS to all 16 year olds and putting the scheme for the first time on a statutory footing
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 3/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Lifetime Savings Bill • Putting into law a Government plans to give people on working tax credits who save £50 a month a Government "bonus" of £50 up to a maximum of £300 a year
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 2/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Soft Drinks Industry Levy Bill • Introduce a sugar tax on soft drinks to fund school sports
Controversy Rating: 3/5
Change Britain Rating: 5/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Bill of Rights • A new bill of rights to replace the Human Rights Act that will be based on the European Convention of Human Rights but will also take account of English common law
Controversy Rating: 5/5
Change Britain Rating: 4/5
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The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Counter-Extremism Bill • New civil powers to allow authorities to ban so-called "extremist preachers"
• New powers to intervene in Madrassas and other unregulated environments where children are present
• New undisclosed powers to come out of Louise Casey’s review of Muslim integration
Controversy Rating: 5/5
Change Britain Rating: 4/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Criminal Finances Bill • Make it an offence for companies not to stop their staff facilitating tax evasion
• New undisclosed powers for courts to recover criminal assets
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 1/5
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The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Cultural Property Bill (Armed Forces) • Making it illegal for UK troops to damage cultural property in conflicts at home or abroad
Controversy Rating: 1/5
Change Britain Rating: 1/5
The government’s legislative programme for 2016-17 Wales Bill • Bill to put plans for further Welsh devolution on a statutory footing – following the new powers recently given to the Scottish Parliament
Controversy Rating: 2/5
Change Britain Rating: 3/5
"After the result in Copeland last week, the Honourable Member for Lancaster and Fleetwood [Cat Smith] summed up the by-election result by saying it was an incredible result for the Labour Party."
To muted laughter from the Tory benches, Ms May added: “ “You know, I think that word actually describes the Right Honourable Gentleman’s [Jeremy Corbyn's] leadership. In-cred-ible.”
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