Britain’s new opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn will seek to quash criticism he is unpatriotic and promote unity in his party in his first speech to the Labour party’s annual conference on Tuesday.
Advertisement
Mr Corbyn, who swept to a landslide victory in last month’s leadership election took to the stage at the Brighton conference to a standing ovation.
“I want our policy review to tackle this in a really serious way and consider opening up statutory maternity and paternity pay to the self-employed, so all newborn children can get the same level of care from their parents”.
He also accused the Conservatives of working for wealthy donors, saying: ‘That’s why this pre-paid government came into being, to protect the few’.
Mr Corbyn said his role as Labour leader would not hinder his 30 years of activism on human rights.
But he said he would do this by “fairer, more progressive taxation” rather than by placing more burdens on poor and middle-income workers.
In his first speech as shadow chancellor at the Labour Conference taking place in Brighton this week, McDonnell outlined plans to cut the deficit by targeting corporate tax avoidance and increasing taxes on the rich.
“Nor does it help our national security to give such fawning and uncritical support to regimes – I mention only two but there are many I could mention – such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain”, Corbyn said.
On Monday, Barrow-in-Furness MP John Woodcock said the party is “f*cked” if Corbyn remains in charge.
Although he was loudly cheered for the declaration, there was more applause when he said that under Labour, every school would be accountable to local government education authorities.
He said that more than 50,000 supporters have joined the party as members since his election as leader in mid-September.
His values of “fair play for all, solidarity and not walking by on the other side of the street” were universal values, he said. “I believe Britain should honor our obligations under the non-proliferation treaty and lead in making progress on worldwide nuclear disarmament”, he said.
Advertisement
Labour delegates yesterday approved the party’s “Britain in the World” policy document, which makes clear the party’s “commitment to a minimum, credible, independent nuclear capability, delivered through a continuous at-sea deterrent”.
