Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn ruled out any pledges to curb immigration, promising not to “sow division”.
The newly re-elected Labour leader was delivering his keynote speech at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Despite pressure from key Labour backbenchers to shift the party’s stance after the Brexit vote, Corbyn told members of the Party, “A Labour government will not offer false promises. We will not sow division or fan the flames of fear. We will instead tackle the real issues of immigration – and make the changes that are needed.”
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Coming hours after a senior Labour MP warned of rioting across the nation if politicians failed to listen to voters on the powder keg issue, Corbyn called for an end to blaming issues in the UK on migrants.
Corbyn said it was “shaming” that hate crime against migrants had spiked since the EU referendum.
He added: “It isn’t migrants that drive down wages, it’s exploitative employers and the politicians who deregulate the labour market and rip up trade union rights.
“It isn’t migrants who put a strain on our NHS, it only keeps going because of the migrant nurses and doctors who come here filling the gaps left by politicians who have failed to invest in training.
“It isn’t migrants that have caused a housing crisis; it’s a Tory government that has failed to build homes.”
The Labour leader also urged members of the Party to unite and “rebuild trust” in preparation for a possible snap election next year.
Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
“A Labour government will not offer false promises on immigration as the Tories have done.
“We will not sow division by fanning the flames of fear. We will tackle the real issues of immigration instead whatever the eventual outcome of the Brexit negotiations and make the changes that are needed.
“We will act decisively to end the undercutting of workers’ pay and conditions through the exploitation of migrant labour and agency working which would reduce the number of migrant workers in the process.
“And we will ease the pressure on hard pressed public services – services that are struggling to absorb Tory austerity cuts, in communities absorbing new populations.”
Mr Corbyn told party members this was the “Labour way to tackle social tension investment and assistance, not racism and division”.
