“Cuts have consequences”: Corbyn tears into Tories over Queen’s Speech austerity

Jeremy Corbyn today put opposition to austerity and possible Tory tuition fee hikes at the heart of his response to the Queen’s Speech.

In a lengthy speech in the Commons he attacked the Government’s “very worrying authoritarian streak” after it announced plans for 21 new Bills on issues ranging from prison reform and adoption to support for the development of spaceports.

Corbyn, who spoke for more than 40 minutes amid repeated Tory interruptions, criticised the Northern Powerhouse plans for being “outsourced” to London and attacked the impact of spending cuts, particularly on women.

“This Government do not seem to understand that cuts have consequences. When they cut adult social care, it has an impact on national health service accident and emergency departments. When they saddle young people with more debt, it impedes their ability to buy a home or start a family. When they fail to build housing and cap housing benefit, homelessness and the number of families in temporary accommodation increase. When they slash local authorities’ budgets, leisure centres, libraries and children’s centres close. When they close fire stations and cut firefighters’ jobs, response times increase and more people are in danger of dying in fires.”

Corbyn, who was making his first Queen’s Speech response as Labour leader, hailed a series of recent Government u-turns, such as on tax credits and the Trade Union Bill, and appeared to back plans for a “sugar tax”, but returned to his core subject of opposition to spending cuts.

“This austerity is a political choice, not an economic necessity. It is a wrong choice for our country, made by a Government with the wrong priorities.

“Women have been hit hardest by the cuts. More than 80 per cent of cuts fall disproportionately on women. As the Women’s Budget Group has pointed out, all the cuts mean that opportunities for women are systematically reduced and diminished in our society. The Government are failing to deliver an economy that meets the needs and aspirations of the people who sent us here—a Government who are consistently failing to meet their own economic targets. They have failed on the deficit, failed on the debt, failed on productivity and failed to rebalance the economy.”

Corbyn also unveiled a campaign to oppose Tory reforms to higher education by posting a series of messages on Twitter.

“@David_Cameron is planning to increase tuition fees AGAIN – after trebling them in 2012”, he wrote.

He also also launched an online petition called The Tory Price Tag and said: “Join Labour in fighting Tory plans to hike tuition fees – AGAIN”.