THERESA May has denied being a “blow-hard who collapses at the first sign of gunfire” as she came under pressure in a live TV interview on the number of U-turns she has made while Prime Minister.

In the first major public event of the General Election campaign, the Tory leader was challenged over her mantra of providing “strong and stable leadership” by the veteran interviewer Jeremy Paxman, who highlighted her change of mind on raising National Insurance contributions in the Budget, on putting a cap on social care and on calling an election.

During the 90-minute live programme, Battle for No 10, on Sky News and Channel Four, Mr Paxman confronted the PM over her serial U-turns, saying: “I’m bound to say if I was sitting in Brussels, and I was looking at you as the person to negotiate with, I’d think she’s a blowhard who collapses at the first sign of gunfire. Isn’t that right?”

After the audience cheered and applauded, Mrs May hit back, saying that what the EU negotiators would look at would be her record at the Home Office on delivering for Britain on a number of justice and home affairs issues, which “people said we were never going to get and I got those negotiations”.

The studio audience again applauded loudly when Mr Paxman pointed out that Mrs May and her spokesmen had promised on six occasions since becoming PM that there would not be a general election before 2020.

Mrs May said that when she arrived at Number 10 she felt the most important thing was to maintain "stability" in order to get on with the Brexit negotiations but that she had found that other parties such as the SNP and the Liberal Democrats wanted to "frustrate" the process.

And she said: "What became clear and is increasingly clear in this election, is the desire of other parties to frustrate the will of the British people. That's why I thought it was right to call an election."

The PM was also pressed on the so-called “dementia tax,” stressing how there would be an “absolute cap” on the cost of care but the level would be determined following a consultation. She sought to justify her U-turn by denouncing Labour for its “scaremongering” over the costs.

When asked whether it was fair that winter fuel allowance should be means-tested in England but not in Scotland, Mrs May said this was due to devolution and that the Scottish Government could make separate decisions on the issue.

In the wake of the Manchester bombing Jeremy Corbyn insisted he would not "soften" Britain's foreign policy if he became Prime Minister, after Conservative claims that he would be soft on terrorism.

Mr Corbyn's attempt, following last week's atrocity, to draw a link between British involvement in military interventions overseas and terrorism at home led to Tory accusations that he was making excuses for extremists.

Challenged over whether he would "soften" the UK's foreign policy, Mr Corbyn said: "It's not about softening our foreign policy. It's about absolutely condemning what happened in Manchester." He described the terror attack as an "appalling, abominable and atrocious act".

He added: "We have to have a foreign policy around the world that doesn't leave large areas without any effective government - such as in Libya at the present time - which can become a breeding ground for enormous danger for all of us.

"My point was absolute condemnation. My point was that we need more police not less - that's why we've pledged to provide 10,000 more police on our streets - and we need a foreign policy that doesn't leave large areas of the world ungoverned so that we have a more secure future for all of us.

"Do not allow this to become an attack on our multicultural society or the wonderful faith of Islam. This was a perversion of Islam, what was done in Manchester."

Mr Corbyn was challenged by an audience member who claimed the Labour leader had "openly supported the IRA in the past" by attending a commemoration for eight IRA members killed by the SAS in Loughgall.

The Labour leader said there was a period of silence for "everyone who died in Northern Ireland" at the 1987 event.

On the issue of the monarchy, Mr Corbyn rejected suggestions he would abolish it, declaring: "It's not on anybody's agenda, it's certainly not on my agenda."

Known for his republican beliefs, he quipped: “Do you know what, I had a very nice chat with the Queen."

Mr Paxman countered: "You don't like her, do you, you don't like what she represents?"

Mr Corbyn replied: "We got along absolutely fine... I don't think she should be brought into political discussion."

On immigration, he claimed under Labour’s plan for “managed migration” it would not go up but would “probably” come down from its current level of around 250,000. He stressed how the contribution to living standards by migrant workers was “huge”.

Under her own questioning from Mr Paxman, the PM insisted that she was determined to do the right thing for the country, referring to her reputation as a "bloody difficult woman".

"Doing what is the right thing by the country. Sometimes you have to be difficult in order to do that," she said.

"We need to have a government that is open about these things and is willing to find ways of addressing them.

"If in order to address them and do the right thing by the country, it takes being a difficult woman, then that's exactly what I will be."

Mrs May also reaffirmed that she would walk away from the forthcoming Brexit negotiations without a deal rather than accept a "bad" deal.

"You have to. In negotiations, you have to recognise that you're not in there to get a deal at any price."