To fight poverty To fight hunger To fight austerity We’ve got to fight an election now
Corbyn We need to oust Tories
Jeremy Corbyn called for a snap general election as he heard from groups helping poor people in Scotland.
The Labour leader met voluntary organisations and charities working to tackle poverty in the south-west of Glasgow, including foodbanks, toy donations appeals and credit unions.
He accused the SNP of passing on Conservative cuts and said people suffering from austerity policies “need a general election now”.
The party highlighted statistics from the End Child Poverty coalition indicating a third of children in the area live in poverty.
Life expectancy there is 73.9 years for men and 79.3 for women, lower than the Scottish national averages of 77 and 81.1, which figures published in December show fell for the first time in 35 years.
Corbyn pointed out foodbank use in Scotland is at record levels, with statistics showing it increased by 17 per cent in a year, higher than the UK’s 13 per cent. And the highest number of food parcels – 31,630 – were handed out to people in Glasgow.
Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard and the party’s candidate for Glasgow South West, Matt Kerr, joined him on the visit.
Corbyn said: “People are suffering under austerity as a direct result of Tory cuts in Westminster passed down by the SNP in Holyrood.
“The people who are bearing the brunt of nine years of austerity cannot wait years for a general election. They need one now.
“It is a disgrace that people are living on the streets and forced to rely on foodbanks in one of the richest countries in the world.
“I pay t r ibut e to the volunteers and charities I have met today who are stepping in to support people who are suffering. But people shouldn’t have to rely on the voluntary sector. “The SNP Government has not just passed on Tory austerity, it has quadrupled it for local councils. And this week’s budget will mean another £230million in cuts that will hit local services the people of Scot land rely on. “There is a clear choice between more austerity or a Labour government that will put an end to austerity and build a country for the many, not the few.”
But SNP deputy Westminster leader Kirsty Blackman said: “No one will believe this empty rhetoric from Labour, who were the architects of the deep austerity cuts that Westminster has made to Scotland’s budget over the past decade.
“Jeremy Corbyn’s reckless support for Brexit will do huge and lasting damage to Scotland – destroying jobs and living standards, harming the economy and public finances, and devastating frontline public services.
“That’s why Labour members and voters are abandoning the party in their droves.”
She said the SNP would continue to “deliver progressive policies” while Labour and the Tories “threaten Scotland’s future and put jobs at risk”.
A Scottish Conservative spokesman said: “Voters know that Labour are too weak to stand up to the SNP and that the only party that can take on the Nationalists and win is the Scottish Conservatives.”