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Jeremy Corbyn to call for 're-industrialisation for digital age' Labour government will 'rewrite the rules' of the economy, says McDonnell
(about 1 hour later)
Jeremy Corbyn is to put big business on notice by saying that Labour will “always seek to distribute the rewards of growth more fairly”. A future Labour government will rewrite the rules of the economy, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said as he accused the Blair and Brown administrations of making Britain a “tax haven for the super-rich”.
Shopfloor workers, entrepreneurs and technicians should be put in the driving seat, the Labour leader will say on Saturday as he calls for a “new economics”. Speaking at the party’s state of the economy conference in central London on Saturday, McDonnell said Labour must aspire to be another great reforming government when it returned to power.
He said the last Labour government relied too heavily on tax revenues from financial services but failed to clamp down on tax evasion and avoidance.
Labour has drawn up a fiscal credibility rule in conjunction with economists from its economic advisory council. It aims to close the deficit on day-to-day spending over a five-year period as well as ensuring the government can invest.
In measures intended to help solve the housing crisis, McDonnell said a Labour government would give councils the power to impose rent controls. He also reiterated the party’s plan to build 100,000 new council houses a year, funded from housing benefit savings.
The shadow chancellor accused Britain’s banks of continuing to pump money into the property market while failing to invest in the “productive economy”.
There was a need to change the way capitalism in Britain worked, McDonnell told the audience. “Previous Labour governments were content to only think about how to redistribute income. Today, technological change means we have to think more closely about ownership,” he said.
“I’ve spoken before of moving beyond the Tory right to buy and creating a Labour right to own. This can be at the centre of our offer to Britain – a radical decentralisation of economic power and authority back to working people and local communities.”
Jeremy Corbyn will address the conference on Saturday afternoon and will tell big business that Labour will “always seek to distribute the rewards of growth more fairly”.
Shopfloor-workers, entrepreneurs and technicians should be put in the driving seat, the Labour leader will say as he calls for a “new economics”.
Related: Osborne's focus on UK's deficit deters scrutiny of his weak economic planRelated: Osborne's focus on UK's deficit deters scrutiny of his weak economic plan
According to an advance copy of a speech provided to the media before the party’s state of the economy conference in central London, Corbyn says “bold and ambitious” action must be taken to build a fairer economy. Corbyn will say “bold and ambitious” action must be taken to build a fairer economy: “Building an economy for the future requires bold ambition – a new economics.”
“Building an economy for the future requires bold ambition. A new economics,” Corbyn says. “We want to see a break with the failed economic orthodoxy that has gripped policy makers for a generation. And set out a clear vision for a Labour government that will create an economy that works for all, not just the few,” Corbyn will say.
“We want to see a break with the failed economic orthodoxy that has gripped policy makers for a generation. And set out a clear vision for a Labour government that will create an economy that works for all, not just the few.
“We want to see a genuinely mixed economy of public and social enterprise, alongside a private sector with a long-term private business commitment, that will provide the decent pay, jobs, housing, schools, health and social care of the future.“We want to see a genuinely mixed economy of public and social enterprise, alongside a private sector with a long-term private business commitment, that will provide the decent pay, jobs, housing, schools, health and social care of the future.
“Labour will always seek to distribute the rewards of growth more fairly. But to deliver that growth demands real change in the way the economy is run.“Labour will always seek to distribute the rewards of growth more fairly. But to deliver that growth demands real change in the way the economy is run.
“Only an economy that is run for all wealth creators – the technicians, entrepreneurs, designers, shopfloor workers, and the self-employed – and that puts them in the driving seat is going to deliver prosperity for all.”“Only an economy that is run for all wealth creators – the technicians, entrepreneurs, designers, shopfloor workers, and the self-employed – and that puts them in the driving seat is going to deliver prosperity for all.”
The economists Ha-Joon Chang and Jonathan Portes along with Adam Marshall, the acting director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, and the Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey, are all expected to attend the conference. The economists Ha-Joon Chang and Jonathan Portes along with Adam Marshall, acting director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, and the Unite general secretary, Len McCluskey, are all expected to attend the conference.
Labour wants to see the “re-industrialisation of Britain for the digital age” through public backing driven by a national investment bank, Corbyn says.
“The new economics is also about economic justice. People expect companies that trade in this country, and people who live in this country, to pay their tax in this country. It funds our public services.
“Aggressive tax avoidance and tax evasion are an attack on the NHS, on schools, our care for elderly and disabled people and the social security system that prevents poverty, homelessness and destitution.
“We believe that economic justice and economic credibility must go hand-in-hand, which is why all our plans are underpinned by Labour’s fiscal credibility rule agreed following discussions with the world-leading economists on our economic advisory council.
“Our rule makes clear that we will ensure solid public finances, while rejecting the politically motivated austerity that is strangling investment and choking prosperity.
“We have the opportunity to build a fairer, more equal, more prosperous economy. We must be bold and ambitious in our approach.”