Jeremy Corbyn: ‘Tories robbing poor to give to rich’

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn receives applause following his first leadership speech in September. Picture: Getty

In a response to David Cameron’s speech at the Conservative conference this week, Mr Corbyn last night accused the Prime Minister of making a series of “fake claims” about being the leader of the party of the workers and one of the centre ground.

The Prime Minister has said the Labour leader’s political stance was “security-threatening, terrorist-sympathising, Britain-hating”.

However, Mr Corbyn, speaking at a Scottish Labour dinner in Glasgow, said Conservative ministers are “pandering to anti-immigration sentiment” in the UK and are driving low-paid workers into poverty with their policies.

He said: “The Tory conference was a feast of spin and deception. Fake claims to be on the side of working people while robbing three million low-paid families of £1,300 a year with the tax credit cuts.”

The Labour leader also singled out comments on immigration made by Home Secretary Theresa May and remarks on benefit cuts by Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt at the Conservative conference in Manchester.

Mr Corbyn said: “It wasn’t just Theresa May who let the mask slip to reveal how far the Tories are from the common ground. Jeremy Hunt showed low-paid workers just what the Tories really think of them when he said their tax credits had to be cut to make them graft.

“So behind the spin and the rhetoric we could all see out of their own mouths it was the same old Tories. On the side of the few not the many. Robbing millions of Britain’s low-paid workers to fund an inheritance tax cut for the 60,000 wealthiest estates. Whose answer on tax credits now is apparently to send families their cuts letter after rather than before Christmas.”

Mr Corbyn also visited Parkhead housing association and Social Bite, a social enterprise that provides jobs for the homeless, during what was his first visit to Glasgow as Labour leader.