7 pledges Jeremy Corbyn made in his speech on Brexit and bringing manufacturing back to the UK Jeremy Corbyn has said a Labour government would bring manufacturing jobs back to the UK from overseas. In a 3,000-word […]

Jeremy Corbyn has said a Labour government would bring manufacturing jobs back to the UK from overseas.

In a 3,000-word speech delivered in Birmingham, the opposition leader berated the Tories for sending contracts abroad and for using skilled workers from other countries rather than training people in the UK to meet the nations manufacturing needs.

“Carrying on like this is simply not sustainable,” said Mr Corbyn, adding that Labour would “reprogramme” the economy and bring jobs and industry back to the UK.

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A Labour Brexit, he said, would provide opportunities and protection for Britain’s exporters.

Here are seven takeaways from Mr Corbyn’s speech:

1. Committing to manufacturing in the UK:

“We’ve been told that it’s good, even advanced, for our country to manufacture less and less and to rely instead on cheap labour abroad to produce imports while we focus on the City of London and the financial sector. “While many economics professionals, politicians and City types insisted this was all a strength the banking crash confirmed it was in fact a profound weakness. “A lack of support for manufacturing is sucking the dynamism out of our economy, pay from the pockets of our workers and any hope of secure well-paid jobs from a generation of our young people. “That is why Labour is committed to turning things around. It must be our job in government to reprogramme our economy so that it stops working for the few and begins working for the many. “That is why we will build things here again that for too long have been built abroad because we have failed to invest. Doing this will allow us to have greater control over the economy, giving us the chance to boost people’s pay and to limit the power of the unearned wealth of the super-rich in our society.”

2. A three-pronged approach for bringing contracts home:

“Labour is determined to see public contracts provide public benefit using our money to nurture and grow our industries and to expand our tax base. The next Labour government will bring contracts back in-house, ending the racket of outsourcing that has turned our public services into a cash cow for the few. “And we will use the huge weight of the government’s purchasing power to support our workers and industries. “This will be done using a three-pronged approach: “Changing how we buy things with new procurement rules so that government supports jobs and industry. “Investing in infrastructure to support companies here in Britain to keep goods flowing efficiently and costs low. “And increasing investment in education, skills and lifelong learning through the National Education Service that we will create – and I want to pay tribute to the work done by Angela Rayner in this regard.”

3. Supporting Small and medium sized enterprises:

“We must also be doing much more to support our small and medium sized enterprises. That is why Labour will look at how to further support SMEs to participate in the tendering process instead of them being dominated by faceless multinationals.”

4. Taking the public’s view into account:

“What’s more we will include public interest into these big public contracts, as was done with the contract to build the High Speed 2 railway. “When there are billions of pounds of public money and thousands of skilled jobs at stake we cannot just focus on saving a quick buck when awarding these contracts. It is a totally false economy. “Instead by considering public interest such as job creation and the supply chains, we can grow our economy in a way that works for everybody.”

5. Focussing on the whole of the UK beyond London:

“Nobody knows for sure when the next election will be or where we will be with Brexit when it comes, but one thing is certain the next Labour government is committed to creating high quality jobs in every region and nation of the UK, to develop new industries and support good domestic businesses – large and small. “We should also look at extending the rights of local authorities in parts of the country worst hit by forty years of industrial decline to be exempt from some World Trade Organisation rules, as some US states are, and therefore be able to require provision for local suppliers and jobs in public contracts. “This would help the regeneration of areas long forgotten by those in Whitehall or Westminster who claim to know what’s best. “The next Labour government will not just sit back and manage the ongoing decline of swathes of our economy. We can and must make a difference. That’s why we will use the state to actively intervene in the economy, to create as much wealth as possible and, crucially, to ensure that wealth is shared fairly between everybody in our society.”

6. Labour is not pursing a Trump-style trade war:

“It must be said however that wanting to build it in Britain is not turning away from the world, nor some return to protectionism or Trump-style trade wars. “It is about changing course so that people feel real control over their local economy and have good jobs that produce a consistent rise in pay and living standards, in every part of the UK. That’s why we are so determined to help companies in the UK that export their goods.”

7. Brexit strategy with a customs union:

“We are offering a real alternative to this dangerous Tory Brexit. A Labour Brexit could provide real opportunities as well as protections for our exporters. “It’s not just that our new customs union would provide the same benefits that we currently enjoy in the EU’s customs union but our exporters should be able to take proper advantage of the one benefit to them that Brexit has already brought – a more competitive pound. “After the EU referendum result the pound became more competitive and that should have helped our exporters. But they are being sold out by a lack of a Conservative Government industrial plan which has left our economy far too reliant on imports.”

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