Jeremy Corbyn has received a boost after being endorsed as Labour leader by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), as he stressed his commitment to reaching out beyond the party and rejected the idea that he exists in a “remote bubble of adulation”.
It is his third union endorsement, after Aslef and Ucatt, and he is likely to receive more in the coming weeks after some of the bigger unions ballot their memberships.
Taking questions after the speech in which he was introduced as “the next Labour party leader and the next prime minister of this country”, Corbyn emphasised the importance of interacting with people who did not automatically think like him.
“I make sure that I spend usually three days a week travelling around the country campaigning, supporting local parties, meeting people in factories, other workplaces, universities, schools, hospitals, all those places,” Corbyn said.
“If you’re going to be effective in politics you’ve got to listen to people, some of whom may not agree with you, some of whom may have criticisms, some of whom may have constructive suggestions for you. The idea that I live in some kind of remote bubble of adulation is nonsense.”
He was speaking after Dave Ward, the CWU general secretary, announced that his union would back Corbyn in the leadership race against Owen Smith. The CWU supported Corbyn in the 2015 Labour leadership contest.
In a 25-minute speech about his proposed industrial and labour relations policy, Corbyn reiterated a series of pledges, such as renationalising Royal Mail, extending the living wage and ending zero-hours contracts. “It’s time to end rip-off Britain and protect workers’ rights,” he said, to loud applause.
After the speech, Corbyn said he did not as yet know how many hours would be the minimum permissible per week for a replacement for zero-hours contracts, other than that three “wouldn’t be enough”.
The party was consulting on this, he said, adding: “But one thing I’m sure – anyone who is on what is now a zero-hours contract will have some idea what the number is going to be, some idea whether they’re likely to be called into work, so there’s less flexibility for the employer. But there’s then more security for the person in employment.”
Asked whether a Labour government under him might take BT back into public control to improve investment in broadband, Corbyn said this was not currently a plan, but that he wanted to press the company on its “social obligation” with internet connections.
Corbyn touched only briefly in his speech on the party divisions which have seen a large majority of his MPs express no confidence in his leadership. “In opposition you can achieve quite a lot, if you’re united in doing so,” he said.
Answering questions, he referred to the mass of shadow cabinet resignations that propelled the MPs’ revolt. “Ever since I was elected to be leader of the party I have reached out within the parliamentary party, for a diversity within the shadow cabinet,” he said. “Sadly, some of those decided after the referendum result that they would walk away rather than participate. I regret that.”
He appeared most impassioned in answering the charge that he spent too much time talking to adoring crowds, calling this deeply unfair. “What I enjoy most in the job, in life, is random meetings with people who I have never met before, I have no idea who they are, and they come up to me and give me lots of ideas. Some really good, some slightly heavy on the conspiracy theories.
“But the important thing is to be able to place yourself in the position where you are meeting people who are not part of the political machine, are not part of the media-political nexus.
“If you represent people you’ve got to have some idea about how they live, how they think, and what their lives are like. And that is what I’ve always done all my life and will always do.”
