Jeremy Corbyn has put full employment throughout the UK at the heart of his bid for re-election as Labour leader, as he launched 10 pledges to “transform and rebuild Britain”.
The pledges came as shadow chancellor John McDonnell accused Mr Corbyn’s challenger, Owen Smith, of trying to “blackmail” Labour by threatening to split the party if he loses the September 24 poll.
Mr McDonnell attacked Mr Smith as “one of the most ambitious career politicians I have met” and rejected the challenger’s oft-repeated claim that he had himself said he was ready to see Labour split “if that’s what it takes”.
The row came as a YouGov poll suggested Labour support would be reduced to around 20 per cent if the party split – with the breakaway group performing even worse.
The leadership contenders were to clash in the first set-piece debate of the campaign in Cardiff last night.
Ahead of the showdown, Mr Corbyn unveiled his pledges in a speech in Dagenham, east London, including promises to create one million new jobs and guarantee “a decent job for all”.
He promised to invest £500 billion in infrastructure, manufacturing and industry, build one million homes including 500,000 council homes, provide stronger employment rights from the first day of a job, end Health Service privatisation, curb energy bill rises, renationalise the railways, reduce pay inequality and create a National Education Service.
Mr Corbyn said his pledges were designed to ensure that “no-one – and no one part of the country – should be left behind”.
Mr Smith warned that victory for Mr Corbyn could spell the end for Labour, telling The Guardian: “We are teetering on the edge of a precipice here. The party could be split. The party that has been here for 116 years as the greatest source of social and economic justice could be bust apart and disappear.”
But Mr McDonnell insisted that Labour will unite behind whoever wins the contest and urged the Pontypridd MP to end talk of division by declaring he would serve under Mr Corbyn.
These are Jeremy Corbyn’s 10 pledges to ‘transform and rebuild Britain’:
:: Full employment and an economy that works for all
:: A secure homes guarantee
:: Security at work
:: Secure our NHS and social care
:: A National Education Service, open to all
:: Action to secure our environment
:: Put the public back into our economy and services
:: Cut income and wealth inequality
:: Action to secure an equal society
:: Peace and justice at the heart of foreign policy
