Corby backtracks on maximum wage
Attempt to reboot his leadership image fails
POLITICS: Jeremy Corbyn has risked a further row within his party, following a “shambolic” attempt to reboot his image.
The trouble began yesterday when the Labour leader issued a call for a maximum wage cap. The proposals were dismissed as “unworkable”, resulting in a watered-down policy calling for voluntary pay limits.
JEREMY CORBYN has risked sparking a further row within the Labour Party, following a “shambolic” attempt to reboot his image.
The trouble began yesterday when the Labour leader issued a surprise call for a maximum wage cap, prior to a keynote speech on Brexit.
The proposals were quickly dismissed as “unworkable” by some MPs, resulting in a watereddown policy calling for voluntary pay limits.
This was accompanied by an apparent U-turn on migration controls, as Mr Corbyn refused to rule out support for continued freedom of movement.
The confusion marks the latest in a series of contradictory messages from the party leadership over its stance on immigration.
Only last month, the Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir Starmer stated that the “rules on free movement have got to be changed” putting him in direct conflict with Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbot.
A number of so-called moderate MPs have also called for tighter migration controls, and on Monday it seemed Mr Corbyn had taken note when a preview of his speech revealed he would say Labour “is not wedded to freedom of movement”.
However, when the Islington North MP got up to speak yesterday afternoon, it became clear that the speech had been amended to say that he would not “rule (free movement) out”.
This was immediately criticised by the Conservative Party, with chairman Patrick McLoughlin claiming Mr Corbyn was “out of touch with ordinary working people”.
He said the “chaotic” speech showed Labour “simply will not take control over immigration”.
Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake suggested that the party was “an utter shambles”.
He said: “After so many Uturns... we are no closer to knowing where Labour policy on Europe differs from the Tories”.
Corbyn’s second climbdown followed a backlash against his call for a maximum pay cap.
Speaking to the BBC ahead of his speech, the Labour leader said he would like to see a “maximum earnings limit” because it is a “fairer thing to do”.
He said: “We have worse levels of income disparity than most of the OECD countries in this country. It is getting worse.
“If we want to live in a more egalitarian society and fund our public services, we cannot go on creating worse levels of inequality.”
This seemingly unexpected intervention drew criticism from a number of Labour MPs, as well as from two former advisors to Mr Corbyn.
One-time aid Danny Blanchflower argued it was a “lunatic idea” that would “generate a huge brain drain, while academic Richard Murphy said it made no economic sense.
And speaking to this paper, the Penistone and Stockbridge MP Angela Smith described it simply as “unworkable”.
She said: “It looks as though it provides an answer to the growing inequality we are seeing across the country... but it would make us increasingly uncompetitive in terms of the global economy. I would like to see Corbyn getting to grips with the really complex problems this country faces rather than coming up with gimmicky solutions which don’t really offer any meaningful way forward.”
Once again, when it came to delivering the speech, there was no mention of a pay cap, only a pay ratio.
This was framed as a voluntary scheme that would see wages for a company’s highest-paid employees limited only in relation to the amount given to its lowestpaid.
A spokesman later said Mr Corbyn “misspoke” during the BBC interview.
(Corbyn) out of touch with ordinary working people Conservative Party chairman Patrick McLoughlin on Corbyn’s migration comments.
LIKE THERESA May, Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn finds himself in an invidious position over Brexit – Labour holds most of the Parliamentary seats which recorded the biggest majorities in favour of Remain, or Leave, during the EU referendum.
Yet, while the Prime Minister is making sure she has a negotiating strategy in place before triggering Article 50 by the end of March, Mr Corbyn’s mixed messages do nothing to inspire confidence in the credibility of his leadership.
In denial about the level of unrest in the North about immigration prior to the historic June 23 vote, Mr Corbyn accused the PM of dither over Article 50 – he would have set the wheels in motion by now – before being accused by his own deputy, Tom Watson, at the weekend of having no clear strategy, the precursor to a speech in which Mr Corbyn said that the country could “be better off ” outside the EU.
The threat of losing the forthcoming Copeland by-election, an outcome which would be disastrous for Labour at this stage of the electoral cycle, must be concentrating Mr Corbyn’s muddled mind.
Yet, while Labour now wants “reasonably managed migration” so British workers are not undercut and priced out of jobs, he also says the country can’t afford to lose access to the single market. Like the Tory leader, Mr Corbyn can’t have it both ways unless the EU makes hitherto unforeseen compromises.
And this is before considering the Opposition’s wider approach. A national wage cap has the potential to discourage entrepreneurship, a trait which needs to underpin Britain’s Brexit plan, while his endorsement of the industrial action currently causing misery for millions of transport users is another reminder that real power in Labour rests with its trade union paymasters.
Far from reasserting his authority, which still remains in doubt after two leadership contests, when will Labour – and an out-of-touch Mr Corbyn – realise that such lacklustre leadership is letting down the country?