Corbyn pipes up for Hardie
Party chief honours its founder
Jeremy Corbyn swapped policies for bagpipes during a tour of Lanarkshire at the weekend.
The Labour leader visited constituencies where sitting SNP MPS have “wafer-thin majorities” and rounded off his itinerary on Friday with a blast of the pipes at a Keir Hardie memorial dinner in Tannochside that marked the 125th anniversary of the Labour Party founder’s election to parliament.
As well as attending the function, Mr Corbyn visited Tannochside Miners’ Welfare Club – a stone’s throw from the site of the doomed former Caterpillar site in Uddingston – and met the men behind the historic plant sit-in.
He also visited Motherwell, addressing a crowd in the town centre before showing his support for the UNISON Scrap the Cap campaign calling on the Scottish Government to remove the cap on NHS pay rises.
Mr Corbyn said: “Scottish trade unions have always stood up for working people in Scotland, and the Labour Party, founded by the Scot Keir Hardie, cherishes our close relationship with unions and their members.
“Trade unions have driven up wages and living standards for working people, improved health and safety in the workplace, and challenged prejudice and discrimination.
“That’s why the next Labour government will repeal the Tories’ vicious Trade Union Act which makes it harder for workers to organise together and defend their pay and conditions.”
He added: “The aspiration I have for Scotland and the whole of the UK is to build a country where each generation is better off, more secure, fulfilled and equal than the last. There’s no reason whatever why that isn’t possible.
“But to achieve it we need to confront the powerful interests that benefit from a system which makes life for most people more difficult, poorer and more unstable.
“Solidarity, coming together to work for the common interest, is part of the lifeblood of Scottish culture. That’s why I know that the Scottish people can transform this country. It is Labour’s task to support them.”