CORBYN ACCUSES GOVERNMENT OF ‘FAILING UK’

Jeremy Corbyn is accusing the government of “failing Britain” in Brexit negotiations, as he warns that a powerful faction in the Conservative Party is actively seeking a no-deal outcome which would cause “economic disaster”.

The warning comes in a speech to the Co-operative Party conference today, in which Mr Corbyn will set out Labour’s plans to transform Britain’s economic model, so the benefits of new technology are spread more widely.

He will suggest that “gig economy” firms like ride-hailing service Uber could be replaced by co-operatives, in which drivers collectively set pay and conditions and share or re-invest the profits from their work.

He will highlight proposals in a report, published in June, which suggested that ownership and control of the growing number of robots in the workplace could be put “in the hands of those who work with them”, allowing the proceeds to be used to fund higher wages and shorter working hours rather than enriching a few at the top.

Mr Corbyn will tell the London conference that Labour is building a “new consensus for the economy” to replace a “broken” system that currently exploits the many for the profits of a few.

Responding to Chancellor Philip Hammond’s warning at this month’s Conservative conference that Labour poses “an existential challenge to our economic model”, Mr Corbyn will say: “He’s absolutely right. We do.”

A day after the release of a poll suggesting that almost two-thirds of voters (64%) think the government is handling Brexit talks badly, Mr Corbyn will say that maintaining full access to the European Single Market is vital to Britain’s economic future.

“The Tories are transparently failing Britain in the Brexit negotiations,” he will say. “They are making a shocking mess of Brexit. They are split down the middle, negotiating with each other instead of the EU. With each passing day they are driving us closer to a no-deal Brexit.”