Five things we learnt from Corbyn's speech about his thinking on Brexit
What Jeremy Corbyn has said today about executive pay has completely overshadowed, in terms of press coverage, what he had to say about Brexit.
But the passages in the speech on Brexit are worth reading. They go beyond - or, in one case, clarify - what was briefed overnight and they shed new light on Corbyn’s Brexit thinking.
Here are five things we’ve learnt.
1 - Corbyn seems set to block any move to legislate for a second referendum on the EU. He has never backed the idea, but some Labour MPs would like to amend any legislation that might have to be passed to allow the government to trigger article 50 to include a referendum on the final Brexit deal. Today Corbyn made it clear that he is opposed, arguing that Owen Smith’s defeat in the Labour leadership contest (Smith backed a second referendum) amounted to a Labour vote against the idea. (See 3.37pm.)
2 - He is redefining the EU referendum vote as a vote for higher NHS funding. (See 3.41pm.) This is not a conventional reading of what the referendum vote meant, but it is at least arguable and it suits Labour, because it allows Corbyn to claim the referendum as a mandate for a Labour proposal to spend more on the NHS.
3 - He seems to be rejecting claims that Brexit will lead to the government losing revenue. During the referendum campaign Vote Leave claimed not having to pay contributions to the EU would save the government £350m a week. The £350m a week figure was widely discredited, and bodies like the Institute for Fiscal Studies said that, even though Brexit would save the government billions in EU contributions, this would not make up for the lost revenue caused by lost tax receipts caused by Brexit-related lower growth. But Corbyn argued that there would be a net benefit that could go to the NHS. (See 3.42pm.) He is siding more with Vote Leave than with the IFS.
4 - He signalled that he wants to use state aid powers currently illegal under EU rules. (See 3.44pm.) He also said that he wanted good access to the single market, but the passage on state aid suggests that Corbyn thinks that having to leave the single market would be a price worth paying for being able to use state aid mechanisms that are banned under single market rules.
5 - He did shift Labour’s stance on freedom of movement, but only from being absolutely in favour to being neutral. He made it clear that he is not shifting it from for to against. (See 3.47pm.)
That’s all from me for tonight.
Thanks for the comments.
Updated
It has been announced that Antonia Romeo, currently the government’s consul general in New York and director general economic and commercial affairs US, has been appointed permanent secretary at the Liam Fox’s Department for International Trade. Romeo joined the civil service in 2000 as an economist after working for the consultancy Oliver Wyman. Welcoming the appointment Fox said:
Across the world my department continues to bang the drum for the UK as an attractive place to trade and do business with, and the permanent secretary has a vital role in leading the department to deliver the UK’s trade agenda at home and abroad. We are harnessing the very best of homegrown and international talent and I’m delighted to welcome Antonia who brings with her extensive leadership and policy expertise that will help the UK to take advantage of the many global trading opportunities before us.
Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, has praised Jeremy Corbyn for proposing measures to tackle excessive pay.
Whatever precise mechanism, Jeremy Corbyn is totally right to be setting agenda on the crucial issue of obscene pay differentials today.
— Ed Miliband (@Ed_Miliband) January 10, 2017
Corbyn on excessive pay and income inequality - Summary
Here are the key points from what Jeremy Corbyn was saying in his speech on pay.
- Jeremy Corbyn announced plans to curb excessive pay - but he appeared to drop a proposal to legislate for a maximum salary cap that he endorsed on the Today programme this morning. In his speech he said there were four policy options that might help to reduce income inequality that Labour would consult on. But, when he listed them, he did not include a maximum salary cap and, when pressed, he said that what he was concerned about was the pay ratio, not maximum pay per se. (See 4.21pm.)
- Corbyn hinted that he might favour a new tax for high earners. He has already said that Labour would reintroduce the 50p top rate of tax abolished by George Osborne in the last parliament, a rate that applied to people earning more than £150,000. That equated to about 1% of the population. In his speech Corbyn identified higher tax as one of the four options Labour would consult on. He said:
We could ensure higher earners pay their fair share … by introducing a higher rate of income tax on the highest 5% or 1% of incomes.
In a briefing note on this Labour said:
This proposal will make the income tax system significantly more progressive, by making sure those on higher incomes pay a fair share of tax.
- Corbyn said Labour would stop firms with pay ratios of more than 20:1 getting government contracts. He said:
Another advocate of pay ratios was David Camero. His government proposed a 20:1 pay ratio to limit sky-high pay in the public sector and now all salaries higher than £150,000 must be signed off by the Cabinet Office.
Labour will go further and extend that to any company that is awarded a government contract.
What Corbyn said about Cameron was misleading. Cameron commissioned Will Hutton to conduct a review of pay in the public sector and the interim report proposed a 20:1 pay ratio (highest pay to lowest pay). But in the final report Hutton rejected the idea.
- Corbyn suggested using kitemarks to incentivise firms to control pay. This was another of the four options Labour will consult on. He said:
We could allow consumers to judge for themselves with a government-backed kitemark for those companies that have agreed pay ratios between the pay of the highest and lowest earners with a recognised trade union.
In a briefing note on this Labour said:
Publication of directors’ pay was originally intended to shame companies into pay moderation, but it has had the opposite effect by encouraging companies to compete with each other on pay. Instead, this proposal would accredit companies that met certain standards, particularly pay ratios, thus allowing consumers to punish non-compliant firms.
- He suggested forcing high-earning executives to get their pay approved by remuneration committees containing a majority of emploees. This was another of the four options. He said:
We could ask for executive pay to be signed off by remuneration committees on which workers have a majority.
In a briefing note Labour said:
Remuneration committees currently consist of non-executive directors who are advised by pay consultancies. Too often these form a close knit group in which limited scrutiny is carried out. The use of benchmarking by consultants making pay recommendations, whereby an executive’s pay is compared with their peers, further limits the extent to which excessive pay is challenged. The government green paper on corporate governance includes putting workers on remuneration committees as one option among many. Giving workers a majority would ensure that workers’ had real voice in pay decisions, and that their representation was more than symbolic.
- He suggested cutting corporation tax for forms with responsible pay ratios. This was the last of the four options. He said:
We could offer lower rates of corporation tax for companies that don’t pay anyone more than a certain multiple of the pay of the lowest earner.
In a briefing note Labour said:
This would incentivise fairer pay ratios with a lower rate of corporation tax.
This is what Jeremy Corbyn said in the Q&A when asked by ITV’s Robert Peston if he wanted a firm cap on salaries. (See 3.58pm.) He replied:
What I’m concerned about is the ratio levels. On top pay we’ve set out a number of alternatives here. Indeed, I was discussing this on the radio this morning. You could set a limit on top pay. I think it’s probably better to look at the ratio issue because that indeed would then encourage wage rises lower down and ensure a better sharing of the resources and the profits of any company or organisation.
Corbyn was presenting what he said about a pay cap in his Today programme interview as something he just floated as a possible option. In fact, he was firmer than that. He told John Humphrys: “I would like to see a maximum earnings limit, quite honestly, because I think that would be a fairer thing to do.” (See 8.41pm.)
Q: Is there any country in the world where a pay ratio has been imposed by law?
Corbyn says Labour is consulting on this. He thinks people will be interested in this. No organisation survives only on the brilliance of the chief executive and the board. You could not run a hospital without the cleaner and the catering, he says.
Q: You seem now to be saying leaving the EU will allow extra money to be spent on the NHS. Isn’t that what Boris Johnson was saying, just with a different amount?
Corbyn says Brexit gives an opportunity for spending to be reconfigured.
And that’s it. The Q&A is over.
Q: Would you like to see immigration fall over the next five years?
Corbyn says migrants who come here make an enormous effort and work hard. What is is concerned about is the way some people coming in have been victimised.
Q: Would it be better if immigration fell?
Corbyn says we have done well from people coming here. The numbers vary. But we have an ageing population that requires an ageing workforce.
Q: You are not ruling out sticking with freedom of movement. Would you rule out work visas for EU citizens?
Corbyn says the crucial thing is to retain market access for the single market.
He is concerned about exploitation of migrant workers. That is why he pushed for the ratification of the posting of workers directive.
Q: Would you rule out work visas for EU citizens?
Corbyn says nothing is ruled out at this stage.
Corbyn's Q&A
Q: Are you still proposing a cap on maximum pay?
Corbyn says he is more interested in tackling pay ratios. On the Today programme this morning he said a cap on maximum pay would be one option. But he is more interested in measures to tackle relative pay.
Corbyn backs away from earnings cap proposal
Corbyn is now talking about other measures Labour could introduce to tackle excessive pay.
But there is a wider point too. 20 years ago the top bosses of the FTSE 100 companies earned just under 50 times their average worker, today that figure is now 130 times. Last year alone, the top bosses got a 10 per cent pay rise, far higher than those doing the work in the shops, in the call centres, in the warehouses.
So what can we do?
… We could allow consumers to judge for themselves, with a government-backed kitemark for those companies that have agreed pay ratios between the pay of the highest and lowest earners with a recognised trade union.
… We could ask for executive pay to be signed off by remuneration committees on which workers have a majority.
… We could ensure higher earners pay their fair share by introducing a higher rate of income tax on the highest 5 percent or 1 percent of incomes.
… We could offer lower rates of corporation tax for companies that don’t pay anyone more than a certain multiple of the pay of the lowest earner.
There are many options. But what we cannot accept is a society in which a few earn the in two and a bit days, what a nurse, a shop worker, a teacher do in a year. That cannot be right.
This is not about limiting aspiration or penalising success, it’s about recognising that success is a collective effort and rewards must be shared.
We cannot have the CEO paying less tax than the cleaner and pretending they are worth thousands times more than the lowest paid staff.
- Corbyn appears to drop proposal for a cap on maximum earnings. He lists other proposals that could be introduced to tackle excessive pay, but not the pay cap idea he floated on the Today programme.
Corbyn says Labour would impose a 20:1 pay ratio on any firm getting a public contract
Corbyn turns to high pay.
In the 1920s, J.P. Morgan, the Wall Street banker limited salaries to 20 times that of junior employees.
Another advocate of pay ratios was David Cameron. His government proposed a 20:1 pay ratio to limit sky-high pay in the public sector and now all salaries higher than £150,000 must be signed off by the Cabinet Office.
Labour will go further and extend that to any company that is awarded a government contract.
A 20:1 ratio means someone earning the living wage, just over £16,000 a year, would permit an executive to be earning nearly £350,000. It cannot be right that if companies are getting public money that that can be creamed off by a few at the top.
- Corbyn says Labour would impose a 20:1 pay ratio on any firm getting a public contract.
Corbyn says Labour will ask firms to pay a little more in tax to fund better training for workers.
We will end the race to the bottom in pay, working conditions and job insecurity, setting up a new Ministry of Labour to get a grip on the anything goes jobs market free-for-all.
Labour will ensure all workers have equal rights at work from day one – and require collective bargaining agreements in key sectors in a properly regulated labour market, so that workers cannot be undercut.
That will bring an end to the unscrupulous use of agency labour and bogus self-employment, to stop undercutting and to ensure every worker has a secure job with secure pay, that’s why we’ll set the minimum wage at the level of the living wage, expected to be £10 per hour by 2020.
Corbyn criticises the Tories for cutting funding for English lessons for migrants.
And he says services are not under pressure because of immigration.
Let’s be clear, public services are not under pressure primarily because of immigration – especially since many migrant workers keep those public services going.
They are under pressure because this Tory government has cut them to fund tax break after tax break to the super rich and big business.
That is the Tory game - low taxes for the rich, low pay for the rest, underfund public services, and find someone to blame , It’s brutal and it’s not working.
Corbyn says Labour will guarantee the rights of EU citizens who are here.
Labour supports fair rules and the reasonable management of migration as part of the post-Brexit relationship with the EU, while putting jobs and living standards first in the negotiations.
At the same time, taking action against undercutting of pay and conditions, closing down cheap labour loopholes, banning exclusive advertising of jobs abroad and strengthening workplace protections would have the effect of reducing numbers of EU migrant workers in the most deregulated sectors, regardless of the final Brexit deal.
Corbyn suggests Labour is neutral on free movement
Corbyn turns to immigration.
Finally, a Labour Brexit would take back control over our jobs market which has been seriously damaged by years of reckless deregulation.
During the referendum campaign, many people expressed deep concerns about unregulated migration from the EU.
In many sectors of the economy, from IT to health and social care, migrant workers make an important contribution to our common prosperity, and in many parts of the country public services depend on migrant labour ...
Unlike the Tories, Labour will not offer false promises on immigration targets or sow division by scapegoating migrants because we know where that leads. The worrying rise in race hate crime and division we have seen in recent months and how the issue of immigration can be used as a proxy to abuse or intimidate minority communities.
Labour is not wedded to freedom of movement for EU citizens as a point of principle, but I don’t want that to be misinterpreted, nor do we rule it out.
- Corbyn suggests Labour is neutral on free movement.
Corbyn says Labour would use government procurement to expand apprenticeships.
Third, we will use the huge spending leverage of taxpayer-funded services to massively expand the number of proper apprenticeships.
All firms with a government or council contract over £250,000 will be required to pay tax in the UK and train young people.
No company will receive taxpayer-funded contracts if it, or its parent company, is headquartered in a tax haven.
And we will not buy outsourced public services, such as care for the elderly, from companies whose owners and executives are creaming off profits to stuff their pockets at the expense of the workforce and the public purse.
Corbyn says Labour wants to exploit state aid powers banned under EU rules
Corbyn says Labour will insist on access to the single market.
Second, we will push to maintain full access to the European single market to protect living standards and jobs.
But we will also press to repatriate powers from Brussels for the British government to develop a genuine industrial strategy essential for the economy of the future, and so that no community is left behind.
Tory governments have hidden behind EU state aid rules because they don’t want to intervene. They did so again last year when the steel industry was in trouble. Other governments in Europe acted and saved their industry, the Tory government here sat back.
But EU rules can also be a block on the action that’s needed to support our economy, decent jobs and living standards.
Labour will use state aid powers in a drive to build a new economy, based on new technology and the green industries of the future.
- Corbyn says Labour wants to exploit state aid powers banned under EU rules.
Corbyn says Labour accepts the challenges the voters set.
Unlike the Tories, Labour will insist on a Brexit that works not just for City interests but in the interests of us all.
That puts health and social care, decent jobs and living standards first and a better deal for young people and the areas of this country that have been left behind for too long.
First, we will open the way to rebuilding our NHS by ending the under-funding and privatisation of health care.
Leaving the EU won’t free up the £350m a week that Boris Johnson claimed but savings in EU contributions could help close the gap.
He accuses the Tories of underfunding the NHS. Between now and 2022 tax cuts for business will give business £70bn that could have gone on the NHS, he says.
Corbyn says people were delivering four messages when they voted for Brexit
Corbyn says people delivered four messages when they voted for Brexit.
As far as Labour is concerned, the referendum result delivered a clear message.
First, that Britain must leave the EU and bring control of our democracy and our economy closer to home.
Second, that people would get the resources they were promised to rebuild the NHS.
Third, that people have had their fill of an economic system and an establishment that works only for the few, not for the many.
And finally, that their concerns about immigration policy would be addressed.
He says Labour wants the government to set out its Brexit plan.
In the glaring absence of a government plan Labour also believes it’s time to spell out more clearly what we believe the country’s Brexit objectives should be.
People voted for Brexit on the promise that Britain outside the European Union could be a better place for all its citizens. Whatever their colour or creed. A chance to regain control over our economy, our democracy and people’s lives.
But beyond vague plans to control borders the only concrete commitment the government has so far made is to protect the financial interests in the City of London. Though maybe that’s hardly surprising from a government that has already slashed the bank levy and corporation tax.
Corbyn says the leave campaign promised money for the NHS.
The Tory Brexiteers , whose leaders are now in the government and their Ukip allies had no more of a plan for a Brexit vote than the Tory remainers, like Theresa May.
They did however promise that Brexit would guarantee funding for the NHS, to the tune of £350 million a week. It was on the side of Boris Johnson’s bus.
Corbyn says the social care system is failing, and the NHS is in a state of crisis.
My point is this, I don’t trust this government with social care, or with the NHS or with the labour market.
So do I trust them to make a success of Brexit? Not remotely.
Only a Labour government, determined to reshape the economy so that it works for all, in every part of the country, can make Brexit work for Britain.
Corbyn signals he is opposed to a second EU referendum
Corbyn says the government is in disarray over Brexit.
He voted to remain, he says.
As the prime minister made clear herself they didn’t plan for it before the referendum and they still don’t have a plan now.
I voted and campaigned to remain and reform as many of you may know I was not uncritical of the European Union. It has many failings.
He refers to Owen Smith’s leadership challenge.
Some people argued that we should have a second referendum. That case was put to our party’s membership last summer and defeated.
- Corbyn signals he is opposed to a second EU referendum.
Jeremy Corbyn is speaking now.
He starts by saying people voted for a better future in the EU referendum.
Whether you voted to Leave or to Remain, you voted for a better future for Britain.
One thing is clear, the Tories cannot deliver that. So today I want to set how Labour will deliver that vision of a better Britain.
Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit speech
Jeremy Corbyn is due to give his Brexit speech shortly. He is in Peterborough.
There is a live feed at the top of this page.
The Labour MP Ben Bradshaw is on BBC News now. Asked about Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal for a cap on earnings, he says he is not sure whether this is the best way forward.
Lunchtime summary
- Jeremy Corbyn has surprised some of his colleagues by calling for a law imposing a maximum cap on wages. He backed the idea when asked about it during a Today programme interview largely focused on a big speech on Brexit he is giving this morning. He had proposed a wage cap during the Labour leadership election in 2015, but it is not an idea that he has pushed as party leader until today. Several Labour MPs have said they do not support his proposal - on the World at One just now Debbie Abrahams, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said she was fully committed to tackling inequality, but declined to say she personally thought this was a good idea - and two former Corbyn economics advisers, Richard Murphy and Danny Blanchflower, have respectively described the plan as “absurd” and “totally idiotic”. (See 11.07pm and 12.23pm.)
- Corbyn has insisted that Labour is no longer fully committed to EU free movement. In extracts from a speech released overnight he said Labour was “not wedded to freedom of movement for EU citizens as a point of principle”. (See 9.45am.) This was seen as a concession to Labour MPs who want the party to accept the need for migration controls and it was welcomed overnight by Michael Dugher, who in the past has been one of Corbyn’s strongest critics in the party.
Welcome intervention by Jeremy: fair rules, managed migration + policies to reduce unskilled EU migration by tackling undercutting are right https://t.co/KiVXfYxav4
— Michael Dugher MP (@MichaelDugher) January 10, 2017
But, in successive interviews this morning, he suggested that his own personal support for free movement remained unchanged. He declined to commit to a target for cutting immigration and, when asked what immigration measures Labour would support, he focused on plans to stop workplace exploitation and refused to back those Labour MPs calling for quotas for unskilled EU migrants. The Conservatives and Ukip both claimed this meant he was not serious about reducing immigration.
- James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland secretary, has told MPs that the situation in Northern Ireland looks “very grave” and that early assembly elections seem likely.
"As things stand, an early Assembly election looks highly likely"- NI Secretary James Brokenshire tells House of Commons
— Siobhan Fenton (@SiobhanFenton) January 10, 2017
"We should be in no doubt- the situation in Northern Ireland is very grave" Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire tells MPs
— Siobhan Fenton (@SiobhanFenton) January 10, 2017
- Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, has said that a Brext deal that jeopardised trade between the UK and Germany would be “the heigh of insanity”. Taking questions in the Commons he said:
As you will know very well there is now a big operation going on by UKTI (UK Trade & Investment), by British diplomacy to point out the salient facts that German investment in this country is responsible for about 344,000 jobs here in the UK, UK investment in Germany is responsible for 222,000 jobs. It would be the height of insanity to imperil either of those sets of investments.
- The Office for National Statistics has published figures showing that during the last financial year the poorest households gained more in disposable income than the richest households.
The median UK household disposable income was £26,300 in the financial year ending 2016 (2015/16); this was £600 higher than the previous year and £1,000 higher than the pre-downturn value of £25,400 in 2007/08 (after accounting for inflation and household composition).
Median disposable income for the poorest fifth of households rose by £700 (5.1%) between 2014/15 and 2015/16; in contrast the income of the richest fifth of households fell by £1,000 (1.9%) over the same period.
The report also says there has been “a gradual decline in income inequality in the last 10 years, with levels similar to those seen in the mid to late 1980s”.
- Brexit poses a risk to the global financial system and could involve tens of thousands of job losses in the City, MPs have been warned. As Jill Treanor reports, Xavier Rolet, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), warned that Brexit could have an impact on “unimaginably large” contracts which are cleared through the City and which might need to be transferred to the 27 remaining EU member states. The HSBC chairman, Douglas Flint, also giving evidence to the Treasury select committee, said that while banks did not want to move activities outside London they had to plan for the worst.
- McDonnell has called for plans to close dozens of local tax offices to be abandoned following the publication of a report from the National Audit Office saying costs of the closure programme have spiralled. Speaking during a Commons urgent question he said:
We have warned consistently on this side that the government’s proposals will have a detrimental impact on HMRC’s ability to provide advice, and also to tackle tax evasion and tax avoidance. The NAO report has confirmed our fears ... As we predicted, this is an emerging disaster.
Treasury minister Jane Ellison admitted that the costs of the moves were likely to be “higher than was first forecast” but she said the government was committed to the modernisation programme.
Updated
The BBC’s economics editor Kamal Ahmed has written a blog about Jeremy Corbyn ‘s wages cap proposal. He says in 1942 the American president Franklin D Roosevelt proposed a 100% tax on earnings over $25,000 (£330,000 in today’s money.)
Faisal Islam, Sky’s political editor, has posted some useful background about earnings caps on Twitter.
No current democracy has a maximum wage law - Switzerland put version to referendum (12:1 ratio) in Nov 13, failed: https://t.co/BWH7bufDot
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) January 10, 2017
Egypt has passed a maximum wage law (36x minimum wage), doesn't seem to have applied it, loads of bankers resigned: https://t.co/58AM9vQ2xd
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) January 10, 2017
... actually only Cuba has actual maximum earnings law. Egypt and the failed Swiss proposal were about a limit on relative pay multiples
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) January 10, 2017
...trying to divine where Labour leader might be heading with this - perhaps limit on pay multiples - Will Hutton did report for Coalition..
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) January 10, 2017
...original John Pierpoint Morgan in the 1920s suggested a 20:1 maximum pay multiple over lowest paid. John Lewis has (had?) a 75:1 limit..
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) January 10, 2017
..even @HighPayCentre doesn't back max wage law, tho it does back max CEO pay multiple, claims 78% public backing: https://t.co/jLbvmbA09t
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) January 10, 2017
But Islam is in Peterborough, where Corbyn will be delivering his speech this afternoon, and he says he has found support for the Labour leader’s idea.
Peterborough market - actually quite a bit of backing for Corbyn's maximum wage, and firmer stance on EU migration pic.twitter.com/VeOJGJ9Ag4
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) January 10, 2017
Owen Smith, who challenged Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership last summer but who was beaten quite easily, has used Twitter to express his doubts about Corbyn’s earnings cap proposal.
Corbyn is right to challenge gross inequality in earnings. But comprehensive & progressive reform of our tax system is the way to fix it.
— Owen Smith (@OwenSmith_MP) January 10, 2017
The Labour MP John Mann also has his reservations.
Looks like Jeremy is going to war with the PFA and footballers. In my view the important issues are fair taxation and stopping tax evasion
— John Mann (@JohnMannMP) January 10, 2017
But Mann says he does support a wages cap within the Labour party.
Time for a wages cap inside the Parliamentary Labour Party and the trade unions. Jeremy has the chance to demonstrate his commitment.
— John Mann (@JohnMannMP) January 10, 2017
a PLP salary cap of 100,000 would be an appropriate next stage for Jeremy's wages cap. Walk the walk etc. A vote winner, me thinks.
— John Mann (@JohnMannMP) January 10, 2017
Unsurprisingly, Downing Street has said the government will not be taking up Jeremy Corbyn’s earnings cap proposal. This is from my colleague Peter Walker.
Theresa May not about to take up Corbyn's maximum wage plan, her spokeswoman says: "It is not a policy we are pursuing."
— Peter Walker (@peterwalker99) January 10, 2017
Sir Simon Burns, a Conservative, asks if the UK government will take the same approach to Russia as the Trump administration. He condemns the hacking of the Democrats’ emails. (Burns is a big fan of the Democrats, and Hillary Clinton in particular.)
Johnson says the UK thinks the Russians have been involved in many “dirty tricks”. But it would be a mistake to “demonise” them and push them into a corner, he says.
The Ukip MP Douglas Carswell asks how quickly the UK could sign a free trade deal with the US.
Johnson says his enthusiasm for a free trade deal was nothing compared to the Americans’.
Liz McInnes, a shadow Foreign Office minister, says Johnson met Donald Trump’s adviser Stephen Bannon on Sunday night. She says his Breitbart website is racist, misogynistic, and homophobic and it hero worships President Putin. How did he and Johnson get on?
Johnson says he is not going to embarrass anyone he met by saying how much he did or did not like them.
In the Commons Boris Johnson is now taking about his meetings with the Trump team in the US.
Henry Smith, a Conservative, asks about Johnson’s meeting with Congressional leaders.
Johnson says he found “a huge fund of goodwill” for the UK on Capitol Hill. They want to do a free trade deal, and do one quickly, he says.
Former Labour economics adviser Danny Blanchflower says Corbyn's wage cap plan 'totally idiotic'
Danny Blanchflower, a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee and a former member of Corbyn’s economic advisory committee, has used Twitter to describe the wage cap proposal as “totally idiotic”.
Corbyn calls for max wage law if I was still an adviser I would have told him it's a totally idiotic unworkable idea https://t.co/51K7TjoDWA
— Danny Blanchflower (@D_Blanchflower) January 10, 2017
Corbyn max wage idea idiotic firms would simply pay workers by giving profit shares
— Danny Blanchflower (@D_Blanchflower) January 10, 2017
@GuardianHeather @JolyonMaugham ok but it is a totally unworkable impractical idea that not a single economist would advise him to go with
— Danny Blanchflower (@D_Blanchflower) January 10, 2017
@jeremycorbyn Corbyn max wage lunatic idea would generate a huge brain drain as smart people move abroad shows how out of touch he is
— Danny Blanchflower (@D_Blanchflower) January 10, 2017
Kalid Mahmood, a shadow Foreign Office minister, asks who Sir Ivan Rogers was referring to in his resignation letter when he said:
Contrary to the beliefs of some, free trade does not just happen when it is not thwarted by authorities: increasing market access to other markets and consumer choice in our own, depends on the deals, multilateral, plurilateral and bilateral that we strike, and the terms that we agree. I shall advise my successor to continue to make these points.
Johnson refuses to answer this.
But he says there is no reason to think free trade deals cannot be negotiated speedily, and that the UK cannot get a good one with America.
- Johnson says Britain will be able to negotiate free trade deals quickly as it leaves the EU.
Labour’s Chris Leslie asks Johnson if he will give Sir Tim Barrow, the new British ambassador to the EU, any clue about Britain’s negotiating position. Sir Ivan Rogers, Barrow’s predecessor, did not know what it was.
Johnson says the government has given a wealth of information about what it wants. He says Barrow is an outstanding public servant.
Johnson says it would be “the height of insanity” to imperil either German investment in Britain, or British investment in Germany.
He says Germany is the EU country that has been most psychologically and emotionally affected by Brexit.
Boris Johnson takes questions in the Commons
In the Commons Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, is taking questions.
Crispin Blunt, the Conservative chair of the Commons foreign affairs committiee, asks if there was anything in John Kerry’s recent speech on Israel and the West Bank that Johnson did not agree with.
(Controversially, Downing Street criticised one aspect of the speech, in a move that was seen as an attempt to curry favour with the incoming Donald Trump administration.)
Johnson says there was much in the speech he agrees with. He pays tribute to Kerry.
Labour’s Hilary Benn asks if the Trump administration will continue to oppose the building of settlements on the West Bank.
Johnson says it is “too early to say” what the Trump administration will say about this. But there is widespread opposition to illegal settlements in Washington, he says. He says Britain will continue to oppose settlement-building because it is agains Israel’s own interests.
Updated
A Guardian Comment panel has given its verdict on Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal for a cap on maximum earnings. The contributions are from Polly Toynbee, Joseph Harker, Stefan Stern, Poppy Noor, and Ellie Mae O’Hagan.
They all agree that excessive pay is a problem. Some of them agree with Corbyn’s idea, but some question its practicality.
Martin McGuinness considering not standing for re-election to Northern Ireland assembly
Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland’s Deputy First Minister is expected to make a second statement about his future following his announcement on Monday that he was resigning from the post.
Sources in Dublin said that McGuinness is considering whether or not to stand in the expected fresh election to the Northern Ireland Assembly, which was triggered by his resignation yesterday.
“He did say he would be making a second statement soon on his plans for the forthcoming election but given his condition it is expected he will not be standing this time around,” one senior source in the Republic said.
But other sources in Derry said his decision rests in the balance because Sinn Fein is “short of big hitters” electorally speaking in the city.
McGuinness left the post in protest over the first minister Arlene Foster’s refusal to temporarily stand down while a public inquiry takes place into a ‘cash for ash’ green energy scandal that has rocked the power sharing government to its foundations.
While Foster has faced demands to step aside to allow for an investigation into the renewable heat initiative, McGuinness and Sinn Fein have had to field questions about the deputy first minister’s apparent ailing health.
McGuinness has denied that his decision to resign had anything to do with his health.
But senior sources in Dublin said that an earlier report on RTE that McGuinness was suffering from a rare condition that affects the heart and the central nervous system would impact on his decision over standing in the second election to the assembly in less than a year.
UPDATE: This post has been amended in the light of fresh information. Earlier the headline said McGuinness was expected to say he would not be standing for re-election.
Updated
Here is some reaction to Jeremy Corybn’s wage cap proposal from journalists.
From the former Financial Times correspondent Brian Groom
Problems with Corbyn wage cap: most wealth not from wages; hits tax revenues; damps aspiration. Any more?
— Brian Groom (@GroomB) January 10, 2017
From ITV’s Carl Dinnen
The idea of a maximum wage cap may be completely unworkable but there may still be plenty of voters who like JC for wanting one. 1/2
— Carl Dinnen (@carldinnen) January 10, 2017
A majority of voters didn't think Ed Miliband could make his Energy Price Cap work but they liked him for wanting it. 2/2
— Carl Dinnen (@carldinnen) January 10, 2017
From the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire
More on the fairness case for a maximum wage from last summer https://t.co/AbM30hWt1J
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) January 10, 2017
As I made clear back in 2009, set the maximum wage within companies with a ratio of 10-1 over a firm's minimum. Fair, workable & popular
— Kevin Maguire (@Kevin_Maguire) January 10, 2017
From the Spectator’s James Forsyth
Maximum wage economically bonkers but more in keeping with a Trump of the left strategy than Corbyn's confused positioning on free movement
— James Forsyth (@JGForsyth) January 10, 2017
From the FT’s Robert Shrimsley
A blunt max wage cap is prob not the way to go but Corbyn is definitely learning from Trump about signalling to voters you share their anger
— robert shrimsley (@robertshrimsley) January 10, 2017
From Newsnight’s Ian Katz
Wonder if Corbyn's earnings cap is first shot in Let Corbyn be Trump strategy https://t.co/2NOKBgNDIX
— Ian Katz (@iankatz1000) January 10, 2017
From the Mail on Sunday’s Dan Hodges
Never mind where you sit on the political spectrum. How can a grown adult seriously argue for a 100% top rate of tax.
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) January 10, 2017
And here is a blog on the proposal from the New Stateman’s George Eaton. Here’s an excerpt.
The extracts of [Corbyn’s] speech, for instance, included no reference to the maximum wage law. Yet it is precisely the kind of measure that Corbyn’s “populist” relaunch should have at its heart. It is distinctive, easy to explain and true to the Labour leader’s values. Though polling by YouGov found that 44 per cent of voters opposed a maximum wage, 39 per cent supported one (a figure substantially higher than Labour’s poll rating of 28 per cent). It is also most popular among the over-65s, a demographic that Labour badly needs to improve its support among.
The policy is being denounced by economists (who warn that it will dramatically reduce tax revenue), by Ukip, which branded it “the politics of envy”, and even by the Greens, who called it “an unproven, blunt instrument”. But such opposition gives Corbyn the distinctiveness that he desperately needs. As Labour struggles to bridge the divide beween Remain and Leave supporters, its economic message must come to the fore. In supporting a maximum wage, Corbyn is simply offering the populism that he promised all along.
Updated
The Labour peer Stewart Wood, who was one of Ed Miliband’s key policy adviser, has described Jeremy Corbyn’s wage cap proposal as “unworkable”.
Maximum wage laws are unworkable. But Corbyn is right, & in tune with our country, about the corrosive effect of runaway pay for the richest
— Stewart Wood (@StewartWood) January 10, 2017
Richard Murphy, the tax reform campaigner who was an influential figure with the Jeremy Corbyn campaign in 2015 (he developed the “people’s quantitative easing” idea, but subsequently lost faith in Corybn), has described Corbyn’s call for a cap on maximum earnings as “absurd”. He has explained why in a blog.
Here’s an excerpt.
I too am concerned about income disparities. But this suggestion is absurd.
First, it assumes all high incomes are from wages. They aren’t. They are from rents, investments, interest and other sources as well. So capping wages has no real chance of tackling this issue.
Then let’s consider another real issue. What if a person runs their own company and makes a million a year of profit that they could pay as a salary? Is Jeremy saying they will not be allowed to pay themselves? Or is he just saying they must take a dividend instead? That would be absurd regulation and a nightmare to enforce.
But such a cap is also unnecessary. There are better ways by far to tackle this issue.
First charge all capital gains at income tax rates. That will make a massive change to the tax system, increase take, reduce inequality and stop a lot of avoidance.
The Labour MP Emma Reynolds told BBC News that she was not in favour of a maximum cap on earnings. She said:
I’m not sure that I would support that. I would like to see the detail. I think there are other ways that you can go about tackling income inequality, and I think he’s right to highlight that as something we need to tackle ... Instinctively, I don’t think [a cap] probably the best way to go.
On Sky News Jeremy Corbyn said the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger would probably support his call for a maximum wage cap.
Corbyn seems to be right. This is what Wenger said in an interview in 2009.
The communist model does not work economically, we all realised that, but the capitalist model in the modern world also looks to be unsustainable. You cannot ignore individual interests, but I believe the world evolves slowly. The last 30 years have brought a minimum amount of money for everybody in the west, the next step, politically, would be a maximum amount of money earned by everybody.
But my colleague John Crace thinks Wenger would not be in favour.
@AndrewSparrow Can't imagine he would. More than half his team would leave to go and play abroad
— John Crace (@JohnJCrace) January 10, 2017
Corbyn's morning interviews - Summary
Jeremy Corbyn has given at least five interviews this morning. I’ve already posted some of the highlights from the Good Morning Britain one. (See 9.05am.) Here is an overall summary with the best lines from them all.
- Corbyn said he was in favour of a law imposing a maximum cap on earnings. (See 8.41am.) In an interview on Sky, he said this was not yet official Labour policy but just “something we are looking at at the moment”. Asked at what level a cap should be set, he refused to put a figure on it. He said it should be “somewhat higher” than the £138,000 a year that he receives as opposition leader. Asked if it should be set at £1m a year, he refused to back that figure. But he implied that it should cover some footballers and high-earning executives, and he said £50m a year was too much.
I think the salaries paid to some footballers are simply ridiculous. I think some of the salaries paid to very high earning top executives at companies are utterly ridiculous. Why would somebody need to earn more than £50m a year?
When it was put to him that this would affect Arsenal, the team that he supports, and that the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger might not approve, he claimed that Wenger would probably support a wage cap.
Arsene Wenger is a man who is an accountant at heart and I think he would probably like it very much indeed. He would probably like there to be a maximum wage cap on the whole of the premiership.
- Corbyn sidestepped questions about whether Labour would be willing to keep free movement of EU workers as the price for retaining membership of the EU single market. EU leaders insist that the UK cannot have immigration controls and full, tariff-free access to the single market after Brexit. Theresa May has made it clear that her priority is regaining control of immigration, although she also hints that she thinks the EU can be persuaded to give the UK tariff-free access to the single market. Corbyn has in the past been reluctant to abandon free movement, but in his speech he will say he is not committed to it “as a point of principle”. But in interviews he refused to say he would prioritise retaining free movement it if that was the price of single market membership.
- He refused to back the plan for a two-tier immigration scheme proposed by some Labour MPs. This would involve skilled EU workers with jobs in the UK having easy access to the UK, but tougher limits on unskilled workers. Corbyn said he had not formed an opinion on his proposal yet.
- He refused to commit Labour to an immigration target and would not accept the proposal that immigration was too high. (See 9.58am.)
- He said he would be willing to stand on picket line in support of striking train drivers from Southern Rail. Asked if he would join a picket line, he replied:
Yes I would because I think Southern Rail have behaved in a terrible manner and the government seem to be more interested in protecting Southern Rail despite its appalling service.
I would want that franchise brought back into public ownership and the public sector. After all, we provide the rails, we provide the trains and they make the profits from running them.
He also rejected the claim that this position would alienate passengers. Many of them would agree with him, he said.
I think many people who are trying to commute in from Brighton are utterly fed up with Southern Rail and the way that it has behaved.
People in Brighton and elsewhere tell me how angry they are with Southern Rail and they want the public to intervene. It is up to government to intervene now and take that franchise back into direct public ownership.
- He dismissed claims he would have to stand down as Labour leader if the party’s poll ratings refused to improve. Asked about the suggestion from Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, that this might be necessary, he replied:
I have been elected to lead this party twice. We had a leadership challenge and I was re-elected with a larger majority. We have a larger membership as a result. You are talking 600,000 people who are members of the party - the largest political party in Europe. That’s the party I am proud to lead, that’s the party I am determined to lead to win a general election to drive down the levels of inequality and injustice that exist in our society.
This is from the BBC’s Norman Smith.
Am told Team Corbyn pleased with @bbcr4today intv -- new populist Corbyn taking on elite inc with max earnings cap
— norman smith (@BBCNormanS) January 10, 2017
The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg has been interviewing Jeremy Corbyn. On Twitter she says Corbyn does not think immigration levels are too high.
Corbyn tells me plans to reduce exploitation in work place will 'probably' reduce immigration but he still doesn't think levels are too high
— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) January 10, 2017
In his Sky interview Jeremy Corbyn was asked about criticism directed at him by Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader. Nuttall has issued a response to the extracts from the Corbyn speech briefed overnight and he is accusing Corbyn of trying to “fool” working class voters with “a load of flannel”. In his statement Nuttall says:
What Jeremy Corbyn is committing himself to today is not even worthy of the term ‘sticking plaster’. For him to think stopping a few online job ads is going to have any real impact on the movement of people from the low wage economies of Eastern Europe is a joke.
The British people - and working class communities in particular - want full control restored over our borders so the volume of immigration can be brought down sharply ...
If Jeremy Corbyn thinks working class voters will be fooled by the load of flannel he has come out with today then he has another think coming.
Extracts from Jeremy Corbyn's Brexit speech
The Labour party released some extracts from Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit speech overnight. Here are the key ones.
On immigration and free movement
Labour is not wedded to freedom of movement for EU citizens as a point of principle.
But nor can we afford to lose full access to the European markets on which so many British businesses and jobs depend. Changes to the way migration rules operate from the EU will be part of the negotiations.
Labour supports fair rules and reasonably managed migration as part of the post-Brexit relationship with the EU.
Unlike the Tories, Labour will not offer false promises on immigration targets or sow division by scapegoating migrants.
But Labour will take action against undercutting of pay and conditions by closing down cheap labour loopholes, banning exclusive advertising of jobs abroad and strengthening workplace protections.
That would have the effect of reducing numbers of EU migrant workers in the most deregulated sectors, regardless of the final Brexit deal.
On the economy after Brexit
Britain can be better off after Brexit ...
People voted for Brexit to regain control over our economy, our democracy and people’s lives.
People voted for Brexit to regain control over our economy, our democracy and people’s lives.
We will push to maintain full access to the European single market to protect living standards and jobs.
But we will also press to repatriate powers from Brussels for the British government to develop a genuine industrial strategy essential for the economy of the future.
Tory governments have hidden behind EU state aid rules because they don’t want to intervene. But EU rules can also be a block on the action that’s needed to support our economy, decent jobs and living standards.
Labour will use state aid powers in a drive to build a new economy, based on new technology and the green industries of the future.
On the jobs market
A Labour Brexit would take back control over our jobs market which has been seriously damaged by years of reckless deregulation.
Labour will ensure all workers have equal rights at work from day one – and require collective bargaining agreements in key sectors, so that workers cannot be undercut.
That will bring an end to the unscrupulous use of agency labour and bogus self-employment to stop undercutting and to ensure every worker has a secure job with secure pay.
On public spending and corporate responsibility
Labour will use the huge spending leverage of taxpayer-funded services massively to expand the number of proper apprenticeships.
All firms with a government or council contract over £250,000 will be required to pay tax in the UK and train young people. No company will receive taxpayer-funded contracts if it, or its parent company, is headquartered in a tax haven.
And we will not buy outsourced public services from companies whose owners and executives are creaming off profits to stuff their pockets at the expense of the workforce and the public purse.
On the NHS
The Tory Brexiteers and their Ukip allies promised that Brexit would guarantee funding for the NHS, to the tune of £350m a week. The pledge has already been ditched.
We will rebuild our NHS by ending the under-funding and privatisation of health care.
This government could have given the NHS the funding it needs, but it has chosen not to. Their tax giveaways to the very richest and to big business hand back £70bn between now and 2022.
The British people voted to refinance the NHS – and we will deliver it.
The Sky interview is over.
I will post an interview summary soon.
Q: Is you plan for a wage cap official Labour policy?
Corbyn says it is something he is looking at.
But we must tackle inequality, he says. He talks about the children of low-paid workers who cannot get free school meals because their parents are working.
There is grotesque inequality, he says. Top executives earned as much in the first three days of the year as others earn in a year.
Q: The government would lose income tax from top earners. How would the government make up for that?
Corbyn says companies would have more money to invest if they did not have to pay executives so much.
Q: The taxpayer would not benefit from that.
Corbyn says more investment creates more tax revenue for the Treasury.
Q: What would the cap be? You are paid £138,000 a year.
Corbyn says it would be somewhat higher than that.
But he some salaries paid to footballers are “simply ridiculous”. And some executives get ridiculous salaries too. He says no one needs to earn more than £50m a year.
Q: You are an Arsenal fan. Arsene Wenger would not approve.
Corbyn says Wenger is an accountant. He thinks he would approve.
Q: But how many people will be allowed to come to the UK after Brexit?
Corbyn says we do not know what is going to emerge from the Brexit talks yet.
But Labour is clear about wanting to end exploitation.
Q: EU leaders say we would have to have free movement to keep single market membership. Would you make that trade off?
Corbyn says there has to be a relationship with the single market. That has to be a priority. The government is taking us in the direction of injustice.
Corbyn's Sky interview
Jeremy Corbyn is being interviewed on Sky now.
Q: You used to say you support free movement. Now you are talking about reasonably managed migration. What does that mean?
Corbyn says it is about recognising that services like the NHS benefit from foreign workers. When he talks about managed migration, he means stopping people being brought to the UK to work on minimum wages, often having to pay to come here to work. He does not want the UK to be a bargain basement economy.
Q: Are you in favour of a two-tier migration system, with different rules for skilled and unskilled workers?
Corbyn says he is not backing that plan at this point.
Q: People are concerned about numbers. Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, accuses you of betraying working class voters. Would you stand at the next election proposing a limit on immigration.
Corbyn says Labour will stand for social justice.
Unlike Ukip and Nuttall, it won’t stand for privatising the NHS.
Would Jeremy Corbyn’s proposal for a law putting a cap on maximum earnings be popular with voters? Joe Twyman, head of political and social research at YouGov, has been looking at the polling evidence.
Jeremy Corbyn calls for 'some sort of high earnings cap' on @BBCr4today. Likely to be popular with a majority of the electorate in theory...
— Joe Twyman (@JoeTwyman) January 10, 2017
...But also provides a stick for his opponents to beat him with. And no guarantee it's going to win over key voting groups. https://t.co/r23mXL7f6G
— Joe Twyman (@JoeTwyman) January 10, 2017
Cap on high earnings policy particularly problematic in public opinion terms when it comes to deciding on a figure. Where to draw the line?
— Joe Twyman (@JoeTwyman) January 10, 2017
When YouGov asked in Sept 2015, 39% supported legal maximum wage of £1m per year, 44% opposed. @GuardianAnushka @MattChorley @PolhomeEditor
— Joe Twyman (@JoeTwyman) January 10, 2017
In Sept 15 YouGov found legal max wage of £1m per year most popular with Labour voters, older people and Scots: https://t.co/mK2k2YldDu pic.twitter.com/8RnVhe4Zgb
— Joe Twyman (@JoeTwyman) January 10, 2017
In relation to Twyman’s final tweet, it is worth pointing out that older people and Scots are two demographic groups where Labour has a rather desperate need to make up ground.
Earlier Jeremy Corbyn was interviewed by Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid on ITV’s Good Morning Britain. Morgan tweeted beforehand that it had taken them a year to get Corbyn to accept an invitation onto the programme. Here are the key points.
- Corbyn accepted that Labour faced a “huge electoral challenge”.
- He rejected claims that he was trying to “reboot” his image. He described the suggestion that he was being respositioned as a Donald Trump figure as “more than slightly bizarre”. But he acknowledged that Trump had been successful in “mobilising people who are totally naffed off with the way the US had gone”, adding: “I can understand that.”
- He played down suggestions of a rift with Tom Watson, insisting he “converses” regularly with his deputy leader. But he ducked repeated requests to confirm that Mr Watson was part of his strategy team, saying only: “Tom, you’re in the shadow cabinet. That’s where the strategy comes from.”
- He said Labour was offering a credible economic alternative to the Tories.
Labour's offering an economic alternative and challenging a Tory Brexit that will leave us as bargain-basement-Britain on the edge of Europe pic.twitter.com/EcQS2AfIjl
— Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) January 10, 2017
Before the interview Corbyn tweeted that he would “talk some sense” into Morgan over the TV presenter’s demands for the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger to be sacked. Corbyn and Morgan are both Arsenal fans.
Well someone has got to talk some sense into you about Wenger. https://t.co/YNDPMe5rod
— Jeremy Corbyn MP (@jeremycorbyn) January 9, 2017
On the programme Morgan gave Corbyn an Arsenal shirt with the number 10 on it joking: “You may never get there, but at least you can have the shirt.” Morgan joked that Morgan was, like team manager Arsene Wenger, “another resident of Islington who has proved almost impossible to unseat”.
Two Gooners. @jeremycorbyn #afc pic.twitter.com/H71XqRsLzK
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 10, 2017
Morgan and Reid also gave Corbyn a cushion with his face on it.
The Corbyn Cushion is formally signed & anointed. @jeremycorbyn @susannareid100 @GMB pic.twitter.com/ilKtbrAMMJ
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) January 10, 2017
What Corbyn said about wanting a law to impose a maximum cap on earnings
This is what Jeremy Corbyn said about wanting a law putting a cap on earnings. John Humphrys asked if he would like to limit how much fat cats can earn. Corbyn replied.
I would like there to be some kind of high earnings cap, quite honestly.
When asked at what level the cap should be set, he replied:
I can’t put a figure on it and I don’t want to at the moment ...
The point I’m trying to make is that we have the worst levels of income disparity of most of the OECD countries in this country. It is getting worse. And corporate taxation is a part of it. If we want to live in a more egalitarian society, and fund our public services, we cannot go on creating worse levels of inequality.
Then Humphrys asked him if he was really talking about a law to limit income. At first Corbyn appeared to row back a little bit.
I think let’s look at it ... I’ve got a view on it ... I’m not wedded to a figure on it.
But, when pressed again, Corbyn, was unequivocal.
I would like to see a maximum earnings limit, quite honestly, because I think that would be a fairer thing to do. Because we cannot set ourselves up as being a grossly unequal, bargain basement economy on the shores of Europe. We have to be something that is more egalitarian, gives real opportunities to everybody and properly funds our public services. Look at the crisis in the NHS as an example.
Updated
Q: Is Len McCluskey right when he says you should stand aside if Labour’s polling does not get better?
Corbyn says McCluskey did not put it like that.
Humphrys reads out McCluskey’s quote.
Corbyn says Labour is here to offer an alternative.
Q: If the polls don’t improve, will you stay on?
Corbyn says he has been elected Labour leader twice. Labour members will be out there campaigning. He will lead it to win a general election, to drive down injustice.
Q: And you don’t have any doubts about this?
Corbyn says he was elected leader with almost 60% of the vote. When he was challenged, he was elected again with a higher majority, with more members voting.
He says he will enjoying campaigning for victory.
And that’s it. The interview is over.
I will summarise the key points from this interview, and Corbyn’s others this morning, shortly.
Corbyn says he would stand on a Southern Rail picket line. Southern Rail have behaved in a terrible manner. He says the franchise should be brought back into the public domain.
Q: That will make you unpopular with commuters.
On the contrary, says Corbyn. He says people using that service are fed up with how bad it is.
Corbyn proposes law to set maximum limit for earnings
Q: The EU four freedoms include goods, services and capital. Banks are run by people making a huge amount of money. Would you put restrictions on how much fat cats can earn.
Corbyn says the government has reduced corporate taxation.
Q: I’m talking about earnings.
Corbyn says he would like to see some kind of high earnings cap.
Q: At what level.
Corbyn says he is not putting a number on it.
He says we have worse income disparity than most OECD countries. If we want a more egalitarian society, we need to address this.
Q: So a law to limit incomes.
Corbyn says he would look at this.
Then, he goes further. He would be in favour, he says.
Look at the crisis in the NHS, he says.
- Corbyn proposes law to set a maximum limit for earnings.
Updated
Q: Would you stop a firm like Sports Direct hiring foreigners?
No, says Corbyn. But what he would do is force employers to advertise jobs locally first.
Q: When people voted for Brexit, they were voting to keep out foreign workers.
Corbyn says employment conditions must be right.
Q: Would you say people would have to have a job to come to the UK?
No, says Corbyn. People would have a right to visit. But the jobs issue would be addressed.
He says Labour has proposed that EU nationals currently resident in the UK should be allowed to stay.
But we don’t know what the final offer from the EU will be.
Q; You say Labour is not wedded to free movement as a point of principle.
Corbyn says he has made a point of saying the government must address exploitation. That is why he made so much during the EU referendum of the posting of workers directive.
Q: So people could still come, provided they are not being exploited.
Corbyn says if exploitation stops, that will have an impact on numbers.
Q: But if you want to be a member of the single market, you have to accept free movement.
Corbyn says this is a big issue. The point he is making is that we must end the grotesque levels of exploitation of migrant workers from Europe. That exploitation is causing tensions in communities.
Q: What would be too many?
Corbyn says he is not putting numbers on it.
Q: You must have some ideas on numbers.
I don’t, says Corbyn.
He says EU migrants make a valuable contribution, especially in the NHS. As an ageing population, we need those workers.
Jeremy Corbyn's Today interview
John Humphrys is interviewing Jeremy Corbyn.
Q: It sounds like you are becoming a Brexiteer.
We are leaving the EU.
Q: Do you want to stay in the single market?
Corbyn says we have to have a close economic relationship with Europe. We don’t want to be a low-wage, bargain basement economy off Europe.
The government is very unclear what it wants, he says. He says Labour has pushed for parliament to be involved.
Jeremy Corbyn has not been giving a lot of interviews recently but this morning he is doing a full media round, and later he is giving a speech on Brexit. His aides have been talking about changing his media strategy - aka, a “relaunch”, as the papers inevitably term it - and Politico Europe published a good account of what this would involve yesterday.
In his speech today Corbyn will say that Labour does not have a principled objection to ending free movement for EU workers. That’s a shift for Corbyn, who in the past has resolutely defended free movement. Here is our preview story.
Corbyn will be on the Today programme at 8.10am. I will be covering that live.
Here is the agenda for the day.
11.30am: Boris Johnson takes Foreign Office questions in the Commons.
12.30pm: James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland secretary, is expected to make a Commons statement on the Stormont crisis.
3.30pm: Jeremy Corbyn gives his Brexit speech.
As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I plan to post a summary at lunchtime and another in the afternoon.
You can read all today’s Guardian politics stories here.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow.
I try to monitor the comments BTL but normally I find it impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer direct questions, although sometimes I miss them or don’t have time. Alternatively you could post a question to me on Twitter.
