May revealed as a fan of Daniel Blake

Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn at the premiere of I, Daniel Blake in London in October. The veteran director has strongly backed the Labour leader AWARD-WINNING director Ken Loach has called on Labour politicians and ordinary voters alike to get behind Labour as the only party who can “change lives for the better”.

Speaking at Sunderland’s Software Centre, the creator of Newcastle film I, Daniel Blake said the party could win the upcoming election – if the leadership had MPs’ full support.

He said: “I think Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership has policies that begin to change people’s lives for the better – I think they need to go further, and I think we need a party in parliament that supports those policies.

“So I would urge people to support Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party, I think the Parliamentary party have got to consider what their role is and support him and back the policies that will change people’s lives, because that’s what people want to hear, they don’t want to hear about the bad things that MPs do.”

Mr Loach insisted that, for the people of the North East, Corbyn’s Labour were the only party who could truly improve everyday life.

He said: “I think they’ve been affected by policies for decades. The old industries have gone and because it’s a free-market economy where they don’t care about bringing new industries in, they can’t plan for it. People have really suffered.

“There has been no plan to bring Tyneside actor Dave Johns and Hayley Squires in I, Daniel Blake new industries in, to regenerate the areas, and that’s been through all the past Governments.

“Why Jeremy Corbyn and John McDonnell are different is that they say they will have a people’s bank that will invest in areas like Sunderland and the North East and other neglected areas of the country and create real jobs in sustainable industries where people have proper trade union rights, where people earn a wage they can bring up a family on, and that’s what people need.

“If Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party campaign hard on those policies and can get through the propaganda and the hostile broadcasters who don’t tell that story, then they can win. But it needs every Labour MP to get behind that.”

Mr Loach was in Sunderland on Friday as part of event organised by left-wing political groups, aimed at giving ordinary people the tools to tell their own stories, and express how Government policies affect their everyday lives. The director, whose latest film’s tale of hardship, food-bank use and the difficulties of living under the present benefits system has sparked debate up and down the country, as well as in parliament, said that sharing these tales could be what makes the difference in the coming vote.

He said: “I think there’s a lot of propaganda during election time, and the parties get obsessed with one or two issues like Brexit.

“But actually, an election should be about how you change people’s lives for the better, and to know how they need to change for the better you need to know how they are now.

“We need to exchange those stories of the choices people face, the consequences of privatising the health service, the consequences of work that is insecure, why is there such a rise in food banks, what are the consequences if you can’t look forward to owning your own home, or having a home?” A dress which Prime Minister and Tory leader Theresa May wore to announce the snap election was designed by a man called “Daniel Blake.” Yes, Daniel Blake. The name ‘Daniel Blake’ is synonymous with an award-winning critique of Tory-led austerity and its impact on the streets of Newcastle.

Ken Loach’s ‘I, Daniel Blake’ – though a winner of the Palme d’Or – is unlikely to have impressed the Prime Minister, even in the uncertain event that she’s seen it.

But Theresa May, it turns out, is a fan of one Daniel Blake.

The pin-striped navy dress she wore to make the announcement that she was calling a general election was designed, ironically enough, by a man called Daniel Blake, it was reported.

Geordie actor and comedian Dave Johns, who played Daniel Blake in the film, saw the irony, tweeting a screenshot of The Guardian’s story and asking: “Who are you wearing prime minister?”

Blake, the fashion man, is East London based and launched his women’s wear business in 2003.