Corbyn seeks to rouse party; says ready to face 2017 polls
LONDON: Jeremy Corbyn, elected leader of Britain’s Labour Party for the second time in a year with increased support, insisted on Wednesday that the party was ready to face elections in 2017.
He laid out 10 promises as part of “socialism for the 21st century”, even though many party MPs remain uneasy.
Delivering a speech on the last day of the Labour conference in Liverpool, Corbyn, who was elected as leader on Saturday with 62% votes, said that more people had joined the party in the last 20 months than in the past 20 years.
But there was more cause for worry for Corbyn’s critics within the party when he refused to promise to cut immigration, and went on to appreciate the contribution made by migrants in the National Health Service and other areas of British public life.
Corbyn said Theresa May was not elected to be the prime minister (she took over after David Cameron resigned after the June 23 Brexit vote), and added: “This isn’t a new government, it’s David Cameron’s government, repackaged with progressive slogans, but with a new harsh rightwing edge, taking the country backwards, and dithering before the historic challenges of Brexit.”
