Post-debate spinning

I didn't watch the second televised debate either. I had to fix a leak in the roof of the conservatory. The media  processed it all for me, and I trust them. GUardian coverage today (I'm not sure if it counted as news or comment) includes these insights:

O Jones (Labour, Corbynista Tendency):

the big takeaway was Corbyn declaring he would be neutral in Labour’s commitment to implement a referendum on Brexit. This should have come earlier: Corbyn should always have said that enough divisive prime ministers have sought to represent only one side of the Brexit split, that he needs to be a honest broker, that the country needs to be united. It finally came tonight: here was Corbyn’s most assured – and, dare it be said – prime ministerial performance....Jo Swinson’s performance was a near-calamity...Nicola Sturgeon – Britain’s most effective politician – pulled off a typically solid performance...As for Johnson, he was finally held to account for his offensive comments about Muslim women – which led to a 375% [very precise] surge in Islamophobic hate crimes – and about black people and gay people.

P Toynbee (Still centrist Labour? Not if it is antisemitic, surely):

Nicola Sturgeon showed how it should be done. For clarity, agility, intelligence – and likability – she swept the floor....[Corbyn] declared his neutrality: not ideal [!], but safe ground...Squashed and mangled was Jo Swinson...her visceral attacks on Labour are dangerous when she needs their tactical votes.... Let’s hope tactical voters block their ears.... the prime minister...looked surprised to be barracked on so many issues – from a killer opener on his view of truth, to his hidden Russia report and nine years of his party crushing the poor.

M Kettle (still Lib Dem probably):

in the light of the mauling that Jo Swinson got from the audience, the Liberal Democrats should reflect that they were lucky she was cut out of the earlier confrontation altogether...[but luckily there was also]...he audiences’ abrasive and impatient reaction towards Boris Johnson. The Conservatives may be ahead, and Johnson may have better leadership ratings than his rivals, but the Tory leader’s capacity to rile is striking.

Kettle does not mention Brexit at all,which must be a first, but seems keener on fights to come:

Scotland, though, was centre-stage, this time because of Nicola Sturgeon’s involvement and because Jeremy Corbyn repeated his very important pledge [why exactly?] not to permit a second independence referendum in the first two years of a Labour government.

Good old Corbyn is doing well. His prevarications and evasions are really strengths.

K Balls  (possible relation. Possible Tory of some persuasion if not Johnsonian?):

Johnson faced difficult moments as members of the audience challenged him on his previous comments on Muslim women, along with Tory austerity. However, the prime minister remained calm...The disastrous performance of the night was Jo Swinson’s....She was criticised by Brexiteers and remainers alike over her party’s policy to revoke article 50 rather than simply push for a second referendum. The position has been a cause of concern among some Lib Dems since its creation....the Conservatives need the Liberal Democrats to retain a significant share of the remain vote come polling day...Despite Jeremy Corbyn’s attempts to play down the chance of a Labour government granting a second independence referendum in the near future as part of a power-sharing agreement, Sturgeon suggested his words should not be taken too seriously as she could change his mind...This has quickly been seized on by Conservative MPs in Scotland – it’s exactly the type of material they want in order to unite the unionist vote north of the border.

And why all this hate for Swinson?  Is it because she is a woman?