Summary

  • Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn go head-to-head in a live debate on ITV

  • They clash over Brexit and the NHS

  • The monarchy and trust in politics also feature prominently

  • The leaders of the smaller parties are interviewed separately in a follow-up programme

  • The Tories are criticised for rebranding their press office Twitter feed as a fact-checking service during the debate

  • Earlier, the Greens launched their manifesto with a pledge to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030

  1. 'Clean break' on the table, says Brexit Party's Ticepublished at 21:33 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Richard Tice

    The chair of the Brexit Party, Richard Tice, says he took from the debate that the prime minister reconfirmed the transition period would finish at the end of 2020.

    That, of course, is only assuming the UK leaves the EU in January with Mr Johnson's deal.

    Mr Tice says he thinks that means a "clean break" Brexit is "still on the table" - because the UK will cut ties with the EU then regardless of whether a trade deal is agreed between the two or not.

    Jeremy Corbyn repeatedly said during the debate that the end of next year was not a realistic timeframe to reach any sort of agreement on the future UK-EU relationship - but Boris Johnson insisted it was.

  2. Lib Dem: Remain voters 'not represented in debate'published at 21:25 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Tom Brake

    Speaking for the Liberal Democrats, Tom Brake says his party is "in the business of stopping Brexit" and he regrets that the 16 million people who voted to remain in 2016 were not represented in that debate.

    He calls Mr Johnson and Mr Johnson "Brexiteers", saying it is "outrageous" that the Lib Dem leader Jo Swinson wasn't there.

    Ms Swinson would have challenged the two men on how they are going to fund their public service promises, he adds, given the cost of Brexit.

  3. SNP: Debate 'hardly a clash of the Titans'published at 21:21 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Humza Yousaf

    A reminder that while we didn't hear from the SNP - or indeed any party other than Labour or the Tories - there is a second ITV programme at 10pm. More on that later...

    But for now, speaking for the SNP, Humza Yousaf calls it a "democratic outrage" that his party wasn't involved in the debate, especially as Scotland was discussed.

    Asked whether the SNP had done a deal with Jeremy Corbyn to support any minority Labour government, Mr Yousaf says: "We haven't done any deals with anybody," but adds that the SNP want to keep Boris Johnson out of No 10.

    As for the performance of the two party leaders, he says it was "hardly a clash of the Titans" and he doesn't think anyone "landed a killer blow".

  4. WATCH: Leaders asked about the state of the monarchypublished at 21:17 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Media caption,

    General election 2019: Johnson says monarchy 'beyond reproach'

    Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn are asked their views on the monarchy during ITV's leaders' debate.

  5. Nine years of growth?published at 21:16 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Reality Check

    Boris Johnson said during the debate: "The economy has grown every year in the last nine years."

    That is true for the years as a whole, although there have been quarters of negative growth during that period.

    But the overall level of growth over those nine years has been the slowest we have seen since the early 1980s.

  6. Tories criticised over 'factcheckUK' rebrandingpublished at 21:15 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    CCHQ Twitter pageImage source, Twitter

    The Conservative Party has been sharply criticised by a UK fact-checking agency after it rebranded one of its Twitter accounts.

    The @CCHQPress account - the Tory press office - was rebranded as “factcheckUK" on Tuesday.

    The change happened during a live TV debate involving PM Boris Johnson and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

    Twitter is yet to comment on the change, but told the BBC it was looking into it.

    Fact-checking agency FullFact said in a statement: "It is inappropriate and misleading for the Conservative press office to rename their twitter account 'factcheckUK' during this debate."

    Read more.

  7. The show's over and both men claim victorypublished at 21:14 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Nick Eardley
    BBC political correspondent

    Did we learn much? Let’s be honest - there wasn’t a great deal of new policy in this debate.

    There wasn’t a knock-out moment or a massive slip-up that we’ll be talking about for the next few weeks - even if there were a number of "ouch" moments, particularly when both men were laughed at by the audience.

    The spin doctors from both sides are selling their takes to us now.

    Team Johnson say Mr Corbyn’s reluctance to say how he’d campaign in the referendum is a killer and shows he can’t be trusted.

    Team Corbyn argue Mr Johnson felt the pressure on NHS privatisation and their man showed he would be on the side of the people if he was PM.

    Both claim victory - as you’d expect. But that’s really up to voters.

  8. The reaction begins... and it's quite a tusslepublished at 21:11 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Michael Gove and Andrew Gwynne

    To the spin room now. And a bit of a ding dong erupts - actually more of a ding dong than the debate in some ways...

    Andrew Gwynne, election coordinator for Labour Party, defends Mr Corbyn's position on Brexit, saying his is the only party seeking to bring people together.

    "The only way we can bring the country together is to secure a deal that's better than this so called oven-ready deal," he argues.

    Meanwhile, Michael Gove, for the Conservatives, says there is "only one person" capable of being prime minister "and it is not Jeremy Corbyn".

    And he questions whether Mr Corbyn could bring people together by "having another referendum".

    The two men get more and more exercised, laughing but arguing vociferously.

    "You took it out of the oven!" Mr Gwynne says of the "oven-ready deal" - referring to the fact that the government stopped its progress through Parliament to focus on the election instead.

    "Andrew is a stand-up comedian," says Mr Gove in reply.

    Phew!

  9. Kuenssberg: Nothing has changedpublished at 21:05 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Laura Kuenssberg
    BBC political editor

    Not sure either man really won or lost that debate - Johnson didn't mess up, nor did Corbyn punch through.

    It was VERY striking that the audience was ready to laugh at them both...

    Dare I say, "nothing has changed"?

  10. A close-up of the handshakepublished at 21:02 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn shake handsImage source, PA
    Image caption,

    The photographers captured the handshake

    It wasn't spontaneous - they were pushed into it by the host - but they did it...

  11. Johnson's closing statementpublished at 20:59 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Now it is Mr Johnson's turn.

    "The choice is very simple," he says. "We can get Brexit done or spend another groundhog year [on] Mr Corbyn."

    He criticises the Labour leader for not saying whether he would back Leave or Remain in another referendum, and adds: "If he can't answer those questions I don't think he is fit to lead our country."

    Mr Johnson concludes: "Let's end dither and delay, deadlock and divisions. We will have a Parliament that works for you."

    Some more audience enthusiasm and with that, we're done.

  12. Corbyn's closing statementpublished at 20:57 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Mr Corbyn finishes the debate with his 45-second closing statement.

    The Labour leader says: "Your voice must be heard, if you haven't registered to vote, go online and do it now."

    He says his party will "end privatisation, giving the NHS the funding it needs", and will give people "the final say" on Brexit.

    Mr Corbyn concludes: "Vote for hope and vote for Labour on 12 December."

    He gets a good round of applause and a bit of cheering.

  13. Christmas present conundrumspublished at 20:56 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    The next quick-fire question was on climate change - both men say it's a "colossal" challenge for the whole world.

    After that, we have a festive one! The questioner asks what present would you leave under the Christmas tree this year for your opponent.

    "I know Mr Johnson likes a good read... so probably A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens and then he can understand how nasty Scrooge was," says Jeremy Corbyn.

    Mr Johnson initially can't resist another political dig, saying he would "probably leave a copy of my brilliant Brexit deal and I will wait - maybe by next year we will be able to see his own deal".

    After a few moments, though, he plucks another answer out, saying the Labour leader "shares my love of plants and cheese" so "maybe some damson jam".

    As the audience noise rises, Mr Corbyn is heard interjecting: "I make my own damson jam!"

  14. A hard starepublished at 20:52 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn
    Image caption,

    Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn

    While Boris Johnson uses hand gestures, Jeremy Corbyn is more likely to deploy a hard stare.

  15. Is the monarchy fit for purpose?published at 20:51 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Mr Corbyn gets some boos but some applause too when he says: "It needs a bit of improvement."

    But Mr Johnson gets a similar response when he says: "The institution of the monarchy is beyond reproach."

    Asked about the recent issues with Prince Andrew, Mr Corbyn says first thing to discuss is the victims, and says no-one is above the law.

    Mr Johnson also says the law must take its course and the sympathy must be with the victims.

  16. Numbers of nursing vacanciespublished at 20:51 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Reality Check

    Jeremy Corbyn said: "There are 33,000 nurse vacancies at the moment in the NHS."

    That's a bit of an understatement - there are currently 39,500 nursing vacancies in the NHS in England, according to figures from NHS Improvement.

  17. Magic money tree?published at 20:49 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Nick Eardley
    BBC political correspondent

    Spending - and where the money is coming from - is a big part of this general election campaign. You got a hint of why there.

    Jeremy Corbyn is saying his party would end austerity - and we’ve heard some big pledges. That’s not a surprise.

    But the Tories are too... Mr Johnson just told voters he believes in spending massively in the public services.

  18. End to austerity pledges from both leaderspublished at 20:49 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Asked about public finances, Mr Corbyn says the election is "a turning point in the way we are going to manage our economy in the future", getting rid of things like zero hour contracts and increasing corporation tax.

    This will pay, he says, for scrapping tuition fees and help "address imbalance in our society".

    Mr Johnson says he plans to shelve an extra cut to corporation tax which will free up another £6bn to the NHS.

    "What worries me about this country at the moment is if we continue with this pointless paralysis," he adds.

    There are slight groans from the audience about the PM returning to Brexit, but some applause too.

    Both are then asked if they will end austerity.

    Mr Corbyn says: "We will end austerity. I'm absolutely clear about that."

    Mr Johnson says: "Of course ansI believe in spending, investing massively in our public services but because we support a dynamic wealth-creating sector."

  19. Body languagepublished at 20:48 Greenwich Mean Time 19 November 2019

    Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn

    One thing's for sure, Boris Johnson is more prone to hand gestures than Jeremy Corbyn when he's speaking. In turn the Labour leader has been throwing some quizzical looks his opponent's way.