Jeremy Corbyn Election 2017

I would not have been here. Absolutely. Remember that when we

talk about the National Health Service. Thank you to all of you for

being here today. Last time I was in Blyth, I was running along the beach

there. Nobody told me how strong the wind was and how cold it was. But it

was lovely. What a fantastic place. Thank you for being here. We are

doing rallies and meetings all over the country. I am looking in about

five different directions. There's a camera over there, over there, and a

crowd over here. I will just turn about and share it out, OK? These

crowds coming out everywhere, the number of people coming to support

us, are truly outstanding. Last Friday, a record was set in British

politics. ?500,000 was donated to the Labour Party, not from a

billionaire, not from the Cayman Islands, not from the British Virgin

Islands, it was not in a check and it was certainly not in a barrel

load of cash. It was people online donating small sums of money to help

fund our campaign. The average donation was ?19. 19. Do you know

what? I'm very proud of that figure because it shows where our

supporters and we are support isn't. We know the difference between a

party that can raise millions from a few phone calls and a party that can

raise money from its members, from its supporters and from the people

who want something different and better in this country. Thank you

very much for your help and your support. This election is about the

choice that people are going to face in this country. Five more years of

this Conservative Government, five more years of a Conservative

government underfunding health, underfunding LQ casing, not

investing in industry, not investing in infrastructure, what kind of

country would we be at the end of that? How do many more people would

be working for less than witted -- less than living wage, on zero hours

contracts, homeless and sleeping rough because they cannot find

anywhere to stay? What kind of society would it be? If you have an

economic strategy as the Tories do which essentially is a free-market

economy, tax relief for big corporations, tax write-offs for the

rich and cuts for the rest or you have our alternative. Hold the book

up. Thank you. This is the book of words. This is the book of words.

What we are saying is something very different. It is about our

investment for the future. It is about railways, roads, it is about

doing it fairly. Why is it there is nearly ten times as much investment

in trance bought in the South East? There must be fairness across the

country. The plan that is clear in the manifesto is a national

investment bank for the whole country, based in the regions, that

will invest fairly across the country so we get those jobs.

Support places where we've achieved things, like the county council, to

improve the communities, improve the area and invest in our future and

our future jobs. So that the wind turbine technology that is needed

can be done here. So that Blyth can develop, so that industry can

develop in the area. The key thing is public investment. Well done

those Labour county councillors that did so much to bring about this.

What you need is a Labour government behind it to bring about the

investment we need for the future. But it is also about the future of

all of us. Our children only get one chance. One chance in nursery,

primary, secondary. There is something quite appalling about the

advice from government to schools, if there is a funding crisis, have a

collection. Pay the staff and a teaching assistant. What kind of

message is that? I pay my taxes because I want our children educated

severely across the country. I don't want our children educated by the

lottery of where they live and how rich the local community is or how

poor it is. I want the same chance for every child in every part of the

country. No more postcode lotteries predication. Invest for every child

everywhere in our country. But, it is what happens before children get

to school that is so important and that is why I want every child to

have a chance of a good preschool in nurseries, playgroups, and so we are

going to offer 30 hours free childcare every week to give that

equality of chance from the very beginning. I think that's important.

In primary schools, we will properly fund those primary schools, as I've

said, we will also ensure that our children are properly fed. They will

get a free lunch every day in primary school. All of them having

it together. People say this will cost a lot of money. Yes, it is

expensive and will cost. I think it is an investment for our future and

also the experience of all those children eating together, learning

together, growing up together. Isn't that what our communities and life

is all about? There's one other thing that we very proud of which is

not that expensive but could make such a difference. Our children are

bright intelligent, lots of ideas and imagination. They go to school

to have that creativity unblocked. I think all our children should get a

chance in music, art, drama, so there is going to be a pupil arts

premium for every child in every school to learn a musical instrument

whilst they are in school. Again, that is unlocking the potential.

That is very important. As they go through their education years,

demands and needs change. What this government has done is cut down or

cut altogether the education maintenance allowance. It cut

maintenance grants for students going to university. It increased

fees in colleges and in universities. It is now up to ?9,000

in most cases. Do you know what the result of that is? Fewer students

from working communities going to university. Fulfilling their dream

because they cannot afford it and cannot countenance the debt at the

end of it. So we thought about this a great deal. What are we to do? Are

we to say that we will let it carry on as it is and leave University as

the preserve of those who can afford it? I don't agree with that at all.

If I junk person has an ambition to develop a skill and become an

engineer, become a teacher and become anything they want to be, it

is up to all of us to provide college places, apprenticeships,

opportunities and university places for all of them. It is going to be a

big call to do it but I'm determined that we do it. We will and

university fees, bring back the TMA and bring back maintenance grants

for those who need it. Because a young person who wants to achieve in

life does their best but does not make it will feel very frustrated

that they could not go to college, could not do what they wanted to do.

Thwarted in life. It is not right. We all lose out because we've lost

that nurse, lost that engineer, lost that teacher because they never had

the chance. I want a chance for every child, every young person in

every part of our country. That is what Labour will bring. That sense

of doing things together for the good of all of us. I'm very proud of

that part of our manifesto. Ronnie spoke about health and about what

has been achieved. If we carry on like this. What kind of national

health service would we have? Think about how it came about. Communities

got together, supported the idea that you could, in a society, have a

health service free at the point of use as a human right. A Labour

government, after the Second World War. It achieved it. The most

civilised thing about our society. Our proudest achievement. I'm

determined that it will be a Labour government that properly funds are

NHS so that you won't have the idea of the corridor nurse caring for

patients because there's nobody else to look after them because there is

a staffing shortage. We won't have the waiting times and waiting lists.

You will only deal with that by putting money into the NHS.

Privatisation will not bring about a better service but a better profit

for those who want to take it out of the service. It will be us who do

that. It is also the social care crisis. A million mainly elderly

people waiting for social care. They cannot get it. It is not available.

What happens is somebody gives up work. They give their care

altogether. Not because they don't love them. They do. But I do think

it has to be done by the community as a whole. If we don't do that it

is women who have careers lost altogether because they have to stay

at home or care for somebody. We are going to put money straight into the

social care system, ?2 billion, but also set up a national care service

because in this lottery of life you get cancer, as sadly, Ronnie did,

but has recovered. You get treated by the NHS and that is absolutely

right. But if you have somebody who suffers dementia then the family is

expected to find the money to support them. Surely, cancer and

dementia should be equally supported by the principle of a health service

completely for all. I'm not sure everybody in the Tory party fully

understand this concept. They seem to have great difficulty getting

their heads around that. The other thing I would say on health, I see

it everywhere because I believe it very strongly and passionately.

There is a mental health crisis going on in Britain. People are

going through appalling stress. Young people feel isolated, alone,

in a dark and dangerous place. Sadly some of them take their own lives as

a result. We must properly fund our mental health services, and the idea

that you wait six months to get support therapy and the other thing

we can all do, support people going through those crises. The stigma

must end surrounding mental health. Support those going through a

crisis, help them get through it. We will fund it but we need to change

attitudes in our community. Today we are launching our housing manifesto

at Derwent College. Labour's new deal on housing. I spoke to a new

group of building worker apprentices. Bricklaying, plumbing,

all the skills that are necessary. I told them to study hard and work

hard because we are going to need you to build the houses that a

Labour government will build. We need your skills to conquer the

housing crisis in Britain. Bring stability to it, give opportunities

for young people to buy homes in the communities, counsels a chance to

build the houses necessary and bring some regulation to the private

rented sector and some security. We are the best richest country in the

world and I think we can do a lot better in education and health. Our

manifesto is comprehensive and something to be excited about.

Nobody can say in the general election there was not a choice put

before the British people. There is absolutely a choice. You can have a

Tory Government again, you can have a Tory Government again cutting

services and all the other things. You can have a Tory Government that

carries on as it is at the present time or you can have Labour MPs like

Ronnie. You can have our fantastic elected representatives like Dave,

who is sadly stepping down as the MP. Why are you doing that, Dave? I

want to say a big thank you to Dave Anderson for fantastic work in

Parliament and all the work he has done. As a union representative and

an MP, a great friend and a great supporter. Your work is not done.

I've got plans for you. And I thank Vera for the work she's done as

police and crime commission. The way she stood up with all the other

police and crime to try and save police services. There's been huge

cuts made, 20,000 police officers lost their jobs across the country.

It is simply not right. Look at how wonderful and brave the police were

in Manchester and London dealing with those terrible events. We need

more police officers, not less. Thank you for what you have done to

support the needs of women in the community and the way the police

must respond to those who are victims of domestic violence. Ian

lay very is standing behind me. No, there is no competition here! Ian,

thank you. He is jointly coordinating our general election

campaign and what a fantastic job he is doing. They wrote us off, didn't

they? They write us off at their peril. Ian and Andrew Quinn have

done an incredible job getting this campaign going, and we have rallies

and meetings all over the country, thousands of people coming towards

us. I want you to do this for the last few days of this campaign.

There will be some clipboards here today. I don't know where they are.

Yes, over there! Thank you. There are clipboards everywhere. Before

you go, sign the clipboard. Don't forget to butcher a phone number and

your e-mail for, and help us on Thursday. Help us get Ronnie elected

and help us win in all those places, because we need to win to get a

Labour government. But we also need to do something else. We have got

tomorrow and Wednesday and Thursday is polling day. Have a conversation

with everybody. What kind of country do you want to live in? What kind of

world do you want to live in? Do you want a government that will say to

Donald Trump, you're wrong about climate change? Dear Donald, sorry,

you're wrong? Think on it, because if we destroy and pollute our

planet, there is no hiding place. However rich you are, you will still

be affected. There is only one planet. We have to work together to

defend it. I would say that to him. But it's also about all of us.

Communities created the National Health Service. Communities defended

the miners during the darkest days of the miners strike. Communities

came together to support those suffering when the steel industry

was under threat. We have a Government that passers-by on the

other side. We don't pass by on the other side in life. We support each

other. Wouldn't it be nice if we had a Government that said actually,

everybody in every community in every part of this country matters?

Everybody has a right to decent services and decent opportunities.

So when you cast your vote on Thursday, think on this. We have

this chance to change the story. The financial crisis of eight years ago

should not be visited upon the poorest and more vulnerable, should

not be paid for by frozen wages and public sector workers. Should not be

paid for by closing library 's swimming pools, but should be paid

for by investment. And that will, yes, result in tax rises for big

corporations and the wealthiest in our society. 95% will not pay any

more, but we were all benefit. It is also something we are saying

together. We want a future for all our children. We want their

creativity unlock. We want prosperity to be shared. We want a

decent trading relationship with Europe as we leave the European

Union. We want all of those things. We have the determination, the IDF

and the spirit to do it. We are not going to do it alone. Polling day is

the day to elect people and start that process of change. But when we

work together as communities, we achieve things together. That is how

we have got this far as a party. Our membership has now gone up to 600000

and still rising. That's because people are inspired by what we are

offering. I want to say to you, thank you for being here. Thank you

for coming out in the rain. I was told it was 29 degrees and the sun

was shining, but that was just Ian Lavery. So we are here today to

thank you for your support for Ronnie and ask you to give it your

role on Thursday to get a Labour government elected. We will show

what we are made of and what all of us together can achieve. Thank you

very much! The Palace of Westminster, with its

many stone figures, is the ultimate Gothic revival building. It was

Augustus Pugin, a genius in Gothic design, who created this visual

feast of stonework paraphernalia that we see today. There are