Jeremy Corbyn: SNP neglecting the poor to chase independence
By Tom Gordon Scottish Political Editor
Corbyn: SNP neglecting the poor to chase independence
JEREMY Corbyn has accused the SNP of neglecting the "moral outrage" of inequality in order to pursue its "obsession" with the constitution.
The Labour leader will say the real divide in society "is not between people who voted yes or no for independence", but between law-abiding workers and the tax-dodging rich.
He will also tell his party's Scottish conference that "climate change is a class issue" as it will have the greatest impact on the poor and marginalised and addressing it is a "socialist priority".
Mr Corbyn is due to give the closing speech on the first day of the gathering in Dundee.
READ MORE: Jeremy Corbyn 'backed Scottish independence during a private conversation with Mhairi Black'
He is due to tell delegates: "The truth about Labour is, we're not obsessed by constitutional questions, like the others are.
"We're obsessed with tackling the problems people face in their daily lives. Ending insecurity at work. Ending poverty wages. Ending the cuts to our public services.
"Because we believe that the real divide in our society is not between people who voted yes or no for independence. And it's not between people who voted to remain or to leave the EU.
"The real divide is between the many – who do the work, create the wealth and pay their taxes – and the few, who set the rules, reap the rewards and dodge their taxes.
"So let me spell it out: our mission is to back the working class, in all its diversity."
On climate change, he will say: "We are facing a climate crisis. There's no bigger threat to our future. And fundamentally, the destruction of our climate is a class issue.
"It's working class communities that suffer the worst pollution and the worst air quality. It's working class people who will lose their jobs as resources run dry. And it is working class people who will be left behind as the rich escape rising sea levels.
"Big corporations will never do anything serious about it. The Conservative government will never do anything serious about it either.
"But Labour will make it a central objective of our industrial strategy.
"We need to reduce our net emissions to zero by 2050 at the latest - it's not just an ecological priority, it's a socialist priority too."
READ MORE: Jeremy Corbyn seeks to reach out to independence supporters
And on austerity he will tell the Caird Hall: "We shouldn't have a situation where a quarter of children in Scotland are living in poverty. We shouldn't have thousands of Scottish young people without a home. We shouldn't have life expectancy in Britain falling.
"What is happening to our country? It's not only an economic and social disaster, it is a moral outrage."
Shona Robison, the SNP MSP for Dundee City East, said: "Jeremy Corbyn is completely out of touch he is with what's going on in Scotland. The fact is, Labour are far more interested in fighting each other rather than fighting for the people of Scotland.
"Both Jeremy Corbyn and their leader in Scotland are willing to crash us out of the EU in just 21 days' time – throwing thousands of jobs on the scrapheap and damaging our NHS.
"And they're content team up with the Tories to deny Scotland the right to choose its own future, while we get hammered by Westminster governments we didn't vote for.
"No wonder Labour are trailing a distant third in Scottish politics."
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