The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
We can’t win election as divided party, Corbyn tells conference
Jeremy Corbyn put Labour on a war footing yesterday – as he promised to deliver “socialism of the 21st century”.
The newly re- elected leader insisted his party was as much about winning power as campaigning and protest.
He also warned Labour to prepare for a general election next year.
The veteran left-winger told activists in Liverpool: “Whatever the prime minister says about snap elections, there is every chance that Theresa May, will cut and run, for an early election.
“End the trench warfare and work together to take on the Tories”
“So I put our party on notice today . . . we expect all our members to support our campaign and we will be ready for the challenge whenever it comes.”
To that end he delivered a rallying cry for unity after months of division, fuelled this week by the row over autonomy for Scottish Labour and its representation on the UK party’s decision-making body.
Many of his MPs stayed away, however, instead choosing to leave the conference early.
Mr Corbyn said: “Our job is now to win over the unconvinced to our vision. Only that way can we secure the Labour government we need.
“Let’s be frank, no one will be convinced of a vision, promotedbyadivided party. We all agree on that. So I ask each and every one of you, accept the decision of the members, end the trench warfare and work together to take on the Tories.
“Anything else is a luxury that the millions of people who depend on Labour cannot afford.
“The central task of the whole Labour Party must be to rebuild trust and support towin the next general election and form the next government.”
The Islington MP, who walked on stage to chants of “Jez We Can”, also used his speech to make it clear he will not make cutting numbers of migrants a goal.
He said a Labour government would reinstate the migrant impact fund and give extra support to areas of high migration using the visa levy and a citizen application fee.
Additionally, he pledged to end the undercutting of workers’ pay and conditions through the exploitation of migrant labour and agency working.
This would reduce the number of migrant workers in the process, he added.
Among a handful of policies outlined, Mr Corbyn said Labour would borrow at historically low rates to fund a National Investment Bank to support infrastructure projects such as faster broadband, crack down on tax-dodging and review tax and social security arrangements for the self-employed.
He also announced that under a Labour government, British arms sales would be suspended where there were “credible” reports of human rights abuses or war crimes being committed.
The Labour leader, who beat Owen Smith by a margin of 62% to 38% at the weekend, said: “We know how great this country could be for all its people with a new political and economic settlement.
“With new forms of democratic public ownership, driven by investment in the technology and industries of the future, with decent jobs, education and housing for all, with local services run by and for people, not outsourced to faceless corporations.
“That’s not backwardlooking – it’s the very opposite. It’s the socialism of the 21st century.”
But in a speech at the Institute of Directors conference in London on Tuesday, she also made clear the Scottish Government is “looking to see if there areways in which – for example – the benefits of single market membership could be retained by Scotland even if they are discarded by the rest of the UK”.
Ms Thornberry said she would be “more than happy” to talk to the SNP about how the UK could stay in the single market following the vote to leave the European Union.
But she stressed there must be one deal for the whole of the UK.
She added: “I don’t think that there should be separate negotiations and separate deals, I think we should have a UK deal.”