Labour leader’s call for public protests Corbyn: Join demos when Trump visits
JEREMY Corbyn has urged protesters to turn out in force when Donald Trump visits the UK.
In an exclusive podcast for the Mirror, the Labour leader slams the US President for giving publicity to far-right Britain First and pulling out of a global climate change agreement.
His rebuke comes as Mr Trump was humiliated at the United Nations. Last night more than 100 countries urged he drop his recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, despite US threats to stop aid.
Mr Trump is due to visit London in February to open the new American embassy.
Mr Corbyn wants people to use the occasion to make their feelings clear. He says on the podcast: “My message to Donald Trump is this: You represent a country that has been through social transformation, from the growth of the civil rights movement, the way in which Martin Luther King stood up for black people and was assassinated for it.
“And then you retweet stuff that is unbelievable and racist such as stuff from Britain First. Please think of the people you have the honour to represent before you do that.”
He adds: “I would also say you might have some disagreement with the Paris Climate Change Accord but you and I live on the same planet, breathe the same air, and rely on the same oceans.
“If you support the climate change agreement and pursue an agenda of ending pollution you will serve future generations well. But if you deregulate and allow it to get worse future generations will suffer.”
He condemned Mr Trump’s Muslim travel ban and building of the wall on the Mexican border as “quite awful”. In a lengthy conversation, he also reflects on his election success during a tumultuous year in politics.
He first became aware of his appeal when he visited Warrington to start a canvassing session.
Mr Corbyn had been told to turn up at a semi and was amazed to see 200 or 230 people ready to go campaigning. Believing there could be an election next year, he says: “I hope there will be one. It depends very much on what happens in the Tory party and how their strange relationship with the DUP develops.”
On Brexit, he leaves open whether Labour will end up calling for the UK to stay in the customs union: “We want a transition which keeps us in the customs union and single market.
“We don’t want this country going in the direction of some kind of low corporate tax environment which would undermine European economies as well as damage living standards here.”