‘Public have not yet seen Corbyn’s best’ – Carwyn
JEREMY Corbyn has work to do to convince people he is a leader before June’s General Election, Wales’ First Minister said yesterday.
Carwyn Jones, who was visiting Swansea, said people on the doorstep liked the Labour Party leader when they met him but that more was required before voters went to the ballot box.
Mr Jones said: “It is clear that Jeremy has work to do to convince people he is a leader. He knows that. Over the next few weeks he has to show people he is a good candidate for Prime Minister.”
Asked if he thought he was a good candidate, Mr Jones said: “From the public’s perspective, they have not seen his best side yet. I think he needs to do more.”
The Welsh Labour leader said he believed the Tories were still “riven” by internal division over the UK’s departure from the European Union.
“You’ve got Liam Fox (Secretary of State for International Trade) who wants to leave next week – I hardly exaggerate – and then the pragmatists,” he said.
Mr Jones said people he spoke to were still digesting Theresa May’s decision to call the snap General Election, but that Brexit remained a big talking point.
The Bridgend AM wanted to remain within the EU and said the Brexit process had to be “done in a sensible way”.
He also said he felt the Conservatives were promoting a form of nationalism that did not view the Governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland as equal partners.
“It claims to be British, but it’s not,” he said. “The Tories will run all over Celtic nationalism.”
The Conservatives currently have 330 seats in the House of Commons and are targeting a chunk of Labour’s 229 on June 8. Some polls are predicating a landslide victory.
Mr Jones said Labour’s first job was to hold onto its MP seats in Wales and “hope to gain” some more.
He added: “We have got a mountain to climb, and it’s there to be climbed, otherwise it’s austerity forever and a day.”
The former solicitor spoke while checking out new council housing in Blaenymaes, which is being built to highly energy-efficient standards.
The first tenants are expected at the end of July, and may have energy bills as low as £70 due to the Passivhaus-style design of the buildings.
Mr Jones beat the drum for Swansea Labour ahead of the May 4 local Government election.
He congratulated council leader Rob Stewart for leading on the £1.3bn City Deal for the region and bringing together four local authorities to sign up to it.
Mr Jones also claimed the Conservatives had “dithered” on the planned Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon.
“We need to see a commitment to the tidal lagoon,” he said.