For those in Labour hoping Angela Eagle would be their saviour when the Jeremy Corbyn farce comes to its inevitable end, the ITV debate last night was a rude awakening.
She opened with “Tonight you are going to hear a lot of nonsense”.
It was the only thing she was right about – mostly from her.
From claiming “we are not in the European Union” (she meant Eurozone) to peals of laughter, to her constant partisan attacks on the Tories, she failed to have any impact on the debate.
'We're not in the European Union': Angela Eagle's slip-up draws laughter from #ITVEURef debate audience #EURefhttps://t.co/IaGIm0oIq9
— ITV News (@itvnews) June 9, 2016
Just 4% of participants in the Times Red Box instant reaction tracker thought she was the best performer – and they must have been quaffing the Labour Kool Aid.
Who is performing best so far:
Stuart: 34%
Leadsom: 24%
Johnson: 15%
Sturgeon: 11%
Rudd: 10%
Eagle: 4%#RedBoxReact https://t.co/2abr4q90HV— Red Box (@timesredbox) June 9, 2016
Eagle was supposed to be representing a cross-party remain campaign. She proved herself incapable of rising above party politics to meet the task.
This referendum can only be won by appealing to the undecided: many are Tories, as their party is split in two on the issue. Angela Eagle will have chased them into the arms of Leave.
I began saying the only thing she got right was predicting nonsense. It is, however, possible she was right about one more thing – if reports of her parting comments are to be believed:
OH DEAR@angelaeagle storms off after debate saying "that was a Fucking Disaster"#ITVEURef #VoteLeave @StrongerIn pic.twitter.com/SxYDG6fWjX
— Sir Dirty Politics (@HouseOfTraitors) June 9, 2016
The Eagle had the opportunity to soar, rising high above petty partisan attacks and showing her potential as a statesman.
Instead she crash-landed.
