Corbyn: Majority of one million 'decent jobs' would go to UK workers
The Labour leader offers to give people "pride and purpose", but the Tories say the party would destroy jobs, not create them.
Friday 2 June 2017 17:01, UK
The "vast majority" of the one million "decent jobs" Labour has pledged to create would go to British workers, Jeremy Corbyn has suggested.
The Labour leader used a speech in York to outline his industrial strategy, which he says will help "unleash the untapped potential of every part of the country" if his party wins the election.
Mr Corbyn said he would give people "pride and purpose" and pledged to pump £250bn into industry if Labour takes power on 8 June.
The party, which is promising to scrap zero-hours contracts, is also suggesting it will not only create employment, but jobs with higher wages.
Labour says the money will come through a new National Investment Bank and a network of Regional Development Banks and a National Transformation Fund.
But Chancellor Philip Hammond warned that Labour would destroy jobs by raising taxes and increasing borrowing.
Mr Corbyn's speech at York Science Park aimed to redirect the election debate on to domestic policy, after a day when both the main parties focused on Brexit.
He argued that years of Conservative rule has resulted in stagnating productivity, falling public sector net investment and average wages forecast to be lower in real terms in 2021/22 than their 2007/08 level.
Mr Corbyn said: "When Labour talks about job creation we mean decent jobs, jobs which pay a real living wage, which people can get by on, and which give people a sense of pride and purpose.
"Labour will invest to drive growth across the whole of Britain, creating wealth which is shared across our country, rather than concentrated in the hands of the few.
"Labour will ensure people are not held back. We will build an economy where everyone shares in the creation of wealth as well as its distribution."
Mr Corbyn was asked after the speech if he could guarantee that all or a proportion of the one million jobs would go to British workers.
He said: "They would obviously be for people looking for work, the vast majority will be for people coming out of our schools and our colleges and our universities, and we will not allow anyone to only recruit overseas for jobs here.
"They've got to recruit in an open way so that everyone gets a fair chance.
"So we will not be allowing companies to import an entire workforce from overseas."
Mr Hammond responded by saying: "Jeremy Corbyn will not create jobs, he will destroy them.
"His reckless plans for higher taxes and more borrowing will wreck the economy and we will all pay the price.
"We have made real progress in fixing the mess we inherited from Labour, helping businesses create 2.9 million more jobs so there are a record number of people in work."
The Conservatives claim Labour's plans to reverse reductions in corporation tax will discourage investment, which is crucial to supporting growth and jobs.
They warn this could add additional instability as the UK enters Brexit negotiations.