Corbyn brands Tories “poverty deniers” as he attacks austerity in TUC speech

Jeremy Corbyn slammed the Conservative Party as “poverty deniers” in his speech to the TUC in Brighton today – and revealed to the hall that 30,000 people have now signed up to the Labour Party since Saturday.

Receiving a standing ovation as he took to the stage, Corbyn made clear that he will not try and distance himself from trade unions, describing the funding Labour receives from them as “the cleanest money in politics”.

He shrugged off attacks that the left are “deficit deniers” by accusing the Tories of costing the Treasury of income by cutting tax for the rich and big business. He labelled them “poverty deniers” and described austerity as “a political choice”. He said:

“They call us deficit deniers. But then they spend billions cutting taxes for the richest families or for the most profitable businesses.

“What they are is poverty deniers: Ignoring the growing queues at food banks. Ignoring the growing housing crisis. Cutting Tax Credits when child poverty rose by half a million under the last Government to over four million.

“Let’s be clear austerity is a political choice not an economic necessity.”

Corbyn also set out Labour’s new tougher stance on opposing the Welfare Bill, including setting a cap on benefits, saying:

“Labour will oppose the Welfare Bill in full. We oppose the benefit cap. We oppose social cleansing.

“We will bring the welfare bill down by controlling rents and boosting wages, not by impoverishing families and socially cleansing our communities.”