Jeremy Corbyn unveils plans for Sheffield

Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn speaks at a Labour Party meeting in Sheffield. Photo by Glenn Ashley/glennashley.org

Speaking at the Yorkshire and the Humber Labour Party conference in Sheffield on Saturday, Mr Corbyn described Sheffield as a “great place with fantastic skills”.

And Mr Corbyn said Labour was committed to improving the economy for the whole area.

As part of the plans he said Labour would improve the Midland Main Line and East West Rail network to speed up connections from cities in the region including Sheffield and Leeds.

Mr Corbyn also pledged to support the steel industries in the region after criticising the Tory Government’s response to the crisis hit sector’s woes.

The news comes after Sheffield Forgemasters was dealt another blow following the announcement of 100 job losses.

Speaking about the Government’s response he said: “They failed to intervene to support the steel industry and failed communities that rely on those industries.

“We will invest in the development of local economies to improve strength in manufacturing industries so we will be supporting the steel industries to keep Sheffield Forgemasters going and other steel industries.

“Sheffield’s a great place, South Yorkshire’s a great place with fantastic skills and a fantastic record of industrial achievement and we want to build on that to make for a stronger economy in the whole area.”

Setting up a National Investment Bank to help with housing and localised transport networks was also top of Mr Corbyn’s agenda.

During his speech Mr Corbyn paid tribute to Sheffield MP Harry Harpham who died this month from cancer describing him as “such a warm and decent person”.

The Labour Party leader was joined by Alan Johnson MP, Chair of Labour In For Britain, Hilary Benn, Shadow Foreign Secretary, Linda McAvan MEP and Richard Corbett MEP, at the conference, who set out the case for the UK to stay in the EU ahead of the referendum.

Mr Corbyn travelled from the conference to attend a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament march in London. Many people criticised the move as his party is caught up in a debate about whether to drop support for a continuous at-sea nuclear deterrent.