Jeremy Corbyn’s left-wing leadership could give the North East its first
UKIP MP in five years’ time, it has been claimed.
Jonathan Arnott, Ukip Euro MP for the region, said that, should Labour’s
frontrunner to be crowned leader succeed, his agenda could “polarise opinion” in
places like Hartlepool, where Nigel Farage’s party narrowly missed out on
winning in May.
Jeremy Corbyn is seeking to win the support of voters in the North by
launching a new Labour group devoted to pushing regeneration projects in the
party’s traditional heartlands, where Ukip picked up many votes in
May.
His campaign has already garnered plenty of support in the region, with a
recent visit attracting huge crowds in Newcastle and
Middlesbrough.
And now, Mr Corbyn has said the Chancellor’s Northern Powerhouse drive is
“little more than southern hot air” as he says his Northern Futures programme,
backed by Easington MP Grahame Morris, will work to rebalance the
economy.
Mr Corbyn said the North must be treated on a par with the South, adding:
“For too long talk of northern regeneration has been little more than southern
hot air.
“I am delighted that our astonishing campaign this summer has given birth
to Northern Futures, an organisation which will put forward policy ideas to
rebalance the economy more fairly in favour of the North.
“It’s a great example of the pattern of democratic process of
consultation we will pursue if we win the leadership race.”
It comes as Andy Burnham spends the bank holiday touring North cities in
a bid to win back UKIP voters.
The Shadow Health Secretary has cast himself as the candidate for the
North and admits the party was guilty of “avoiding” difficult issues such as
immigration, which allowed UKIP to take the advantage.
But Mr Arnott said a win for My Corbyn was not necessarily bad for Nigel
Farage’s party.
He said: “Jeremy Corbyn is a maverick, shooting from the lip with policy
suggestions that haven’t been properly considered.
“Some are good, some are bad - but no-one’s going to take him seriously
as a potential Prime Minister.
“At least the Islington MP has seen through Osborne’s Northern Powerhouse
mirage, and recognises the poor deal the North East has.
“Andy Burnham has also been caught in U-turn after U-turn; no-one knows
what he really stands for.
“As immigration has become a key issue, he’s admitting the impact of
Labour’s mass immigration on poorer communities, but lacks proposals to bring it
under control.
“In seats like Hartlepool, with Ukip just 3,000 votes short of winning in
May, Corbyn will polarise opinion - this could play into our
hands.”
Extra EU funds for areas that face most pressure from new arrivals will
be among Mr Corbyn’s proposed responses to a report commissioned from MP Dan
Jarvis about the failure to take on Ukip.
In his report, Mr Jarvis said Labour had been “in denial for too long”
about the threat of Ukip and was “in danger of becoming irrelevant” after
falling to third place in some constituencies.
The party was “yet to develop an effective counter attack” to the
eurosceptic advance which saw it shed crucial support across a swathe of seats
in its traditional northern heartlands.
On immigration, Mr Burnham said: “For too long, Labour campaigners have
been avoiding people’s eyes when this subject comes up on the
doorstep.
“We need to respond to people’s legitimate concerns about the challenges
that EU migration creates in some of our poorest communities.” The Chronicle.
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