Corbyn’s rallying cry on visit to turbine firm
JEREMY Corbyn urged young people to get out and vote in tomorrow’s referendum on the UK’s future in Europe during a visit to Widnes.
He warned one of his greatest concerns is that a ‘lot of people forget to vote or don’t bother to vote’ and turn-out would be low.
During a visit to a Widnes factory on Tuesday, the Labour leader said: “Young people only voted by 50% in the last General Election. I think they ought to take part in this. I want there to be a high turn-out so there is seen to be a clear decision.”
He was visiting Hutchinson Engineering, in Widnes, which makes wind turbines and mobile phone masts and employs around 130 people – including a number from other EU countries – and exports to places such as Belgium and Germany.
The company has a turnover of £20m and its managing director, Dean Drinkwater, said that much of its output was exported to the EU and it relied on skilled labourr to make up a shortfall, ll, although the firm was were training local apprentices, too
He said: “If we e couldn’t employoy people from the EU, U, we would not be ableble to employ as manyany British people as we would not be able to do the work.”
Mr Corbyn said: “This factory here is producing fantastic stuff, fantastic hightech wind turbines. It has a multinational workforce, I’ve met people from Poland, from Spain and other places, doing a great job. And there are 52,000 EU nationals working in our NHS and it would be in a pretty poor state without them. “So, let’s be realistic and also recognise there are a million British people working and con contributing to the economy in otherothe parts of Europe.” The Labou Labour leader also said Mer Merseyside had benefited from EU funding and ‘we need more of it’ to invest in high-end industry, while Merseyside’s universities work closely on research projects with other EU universities which would be threatened by Brexit.
Mr Corbyn also slammed Ukip’s ‘breaking point’ anti-EU poster, showing a long queue of migrants. He said: “I was shocked and appalled by the poster that Nigel Farage and Ukip unveiled.
“To exploit a group of desperate people fleeing from a war, trying to survive. Just because.someone is a victim of human rights abuses or wars doesn’t make them a threat, it shows they are a human beings who needs our help and support.”