Corbyn: I love my country because of its Left-wing values

JEREMY Corbyn will today declare ‘I love this country’, as he uses his keynote speech to Labour’s conference to try to soften his image as a militant republican.

The Labour leader’s patriotism has come under fierce scrutiny in recent weeks after he refused to sing the national anthem at a Battle of Britain memorial, and suggested he would refuse to kneel before the Queen when he joins the Privy Council.

Mr Corbyn also supports a united Ireland, wants to hand sovereignty of the Falklands to Argentina, and has given only muted support for Scotland remaining in the UK.

The public backlash has alarmed Labour strategists, who fear Mr Corbyn’s republicanism will alienate voters. Today he will try to wrap himself in the flag to convince the public that he does not hate Britain. But his stance as a patriot will be based on an audacious claim that this Left-wing values are shared by the majority of voters.

In his set-piece speech today, Mr Corbyn will also not make a promised apology for Labour taking Britain into the Iraq war. Instead, he will speak of the ‘unanimity of values’ he encountered while travelling the country during his leadership campaign.

He will continue: ‘Fair play for all, solidarity and not walking by on the other side of the street when people are in trouble. Respect for other’s point of view.

‘It is this sense of fair play, these shared majority British values, that are the fundamental reason why I love this country and its people. These values are what I was elected on – a kinder politics and a more caring society. They are Labour values and our country’s values.’

Mr Corbyn will also issue a barely coded warning to moderate MPs not to challenge his right to lead. ‘The huge mandate I have been given by the 59 per cent of our electorate who supported me is a mandate for change,’ he will say, adding: ‘It was a vote for change in the way we do politics.’

Mr Corbyn has been rocked by a series of setbacks in his tumultuous first fortnight as leader. A Shadow Cabinet rebellion has forced him to back down over Europe after he suggested he might campaign for Britain to leave the EU.

A bid to use this week’s conference to drop Labour support for the Trident nuclear deterrent was thrown out by union leaders who fear it would cost jobs. And Labour figures have openly criticised his stance on defence and benefits, as well as his refusal to sing the national anthem.

Mr Corbyn, whose leadership bid was opposed by 90 per cent of Labour MPs, is expected to offer free votes on major issues like the renewal of Trident and military action on Syria in order to maintain the pretence of party unity at Westminster.

Today he will acknowledge that the ‘message discipline’ of Labour’s recent past will have to be abandoned. ‘I am not imposing leadership lines,’ he will say. ‘I don’t believe anyone has a monopoly on wisdom – we all have ideas and a vision of how things can be better. I want open debate, I will listen to everyone, I firmly believe leadership is listening.’

Labour indicated last week that Mr Corbyn would use his first conference speech as leader to issue an apology for the Iraq war, to show the party had moved on from New Labour. But Labour sources said Mr Corbyn abandoned the controversial plan, after a poll showed most of the party’s voters were opposed to the idea.

The Survation poll found 53 per cent of Labour voters opposed the idea, with just 32 per cent in favour. Labour MP Dan Jarvis, a former Army major who served in Iraq, had also questioned the move. Sources claimed last night that the apology would be issued at a later date.