Labour Party Leader, Jeremy Corbyn drew a 900 strong audience to a talk he delivered last night at Liverpool Guild of Students, following a meeting with University of Liverpool Vice-Chancellor, Professor Janet Beer.
Cheered onto the stage at Mountford Hall, following introductions by Walton MP Steve Rotherham and Wirral West MP Margaret Greenwood, Jeremy Corbyn emphasised the continuing value of “collective will” and listed recent achievements by a Labour Party that “represents a lot of people”, despite sitting on the Opposition benches.
Rallying against the Government’s proposed changes to tax credits, he told those assembled that he had “asked David Cameron about it six times last week and three times this week, and he’ll get the same question time and time again”.
Slamming the Welfare Reform Bill for targeting the “poorest people in this country”, the Labour Leader said: “It’s not right. We should be strong enough and proud enough to say we want to live in a country that’s capable of caring for its people.”
He raised the threat to the UK’s steel industry – “the basis of every possible aspect of a manufacturing economy” – and noted how the Government had withdrawn from a contract to help run Saudi Arabia’s prisons after he made clear his opposition in a speech to the Labour Party Conference.
He encouraged all who hadn’t yet done so to ensure they register to vote ahead of a December deadline that will have a major influence on proposed boundary changes, discussed the unfolding European migrant crisis and said that his Labour Party would not only “defend our NHS but demand a better NHS that does care for all”, including giving parity to mental health treatment.
The Islington North MP said his brand of politics wasn’t about looking back, as often portrayed in the media, but about a new “21st century” movement committed to “democracy and participation”.
Touching on the student protests in London over cuts to maintenance grants, Jeremy Corbyn said: “Education should be for the good of all.
“If somebody becomes a good engineer, the trains we travel on will run better. If somebody becomes a good doctor, our health will be better. Let’s value learning for what it is and let’s not condemn the arts to endless cuts and closures.”
His talk at the Guild came at the end of a visit to Liverpool that included a tour of the new £25m Clock View mental health hospital in Walton and talks with the first Shadow Mental Health Minister, Wavertree MP, Luciana Berger. He also met for a brief discussion with the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Janet Beer before the short walk to the Guild event, organised by University of Liverpool Labour Students.
