Owen Smith to make equality pitch to Corbyn supporters
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Greater equality must be at the heart of Labour’s “mission for Britain”, Owen Smith is to say in a direct pitch to supporters of his rival Jeremy Corbyn.
In a speech on Wednesday, Mr Smith will commit to focusing Labour policies on achieving “equality of outcome” rather than “equality of opportunity”.
He will say he wants the UK to be the “envy of the world” in terms of fair employment and conditions at work.
Mr Corbyn’s campaign said he had led the way in promoting equality.
Mr Smith is seeking to replace Mr Corbyn in a contest that will be decided on 24 September. The first hustings of the campaign will take place on 4 August in Cardiff, Labour said on Tuesday.
The Labour leader was overwhelmingly elected last year on a platform of taking the party to the left and breaking with the “economic orthodoxies” of the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
Mr Smith has insisted he is “just as radical” as his rival, but more capable of uniting the party and preparing it to form a future government.
‘Fruits of success’
In a speech at the site of the former Orgreave coking plant in South Yorkshire, the ex-work and pension spokesman will say Labour has a fine history of delivering social justice but must now refocus its efforts on striving for more equal outcomes for all.
Mr Smith – who has said Labour’s constitution should be rewritten to explicitly state its commitment to reducing inequality – will suggest that the party in recent years has not done enough to address growing income gaps in society and rein in boardroom excesses.
“We need to rediscover a sense of national mission for Britain,” he will say. “A faith in our country as having a future as bright as its past. And one where the fruits of our collective success are shared more equally between us.
“Where outcomes can be equal, not just the opportunities we create. That is why I am in politics.”
In a speech in which he expected to call for both “fair taxes and fair funding” of public services, Mr Smith will say employment rights must be strengthened to ensure workers do not lose out from the UK’s exit from the European Union.
Wage talks
He will promise to appoint a shadow cabinet-level minister for labour whose remit would be to “make Britain the envy of the world for the quality of our jobs and the protections they have, so workers have access to better terms and conditions”.
At a rally on Tuesday evening, Mr Smith repeated his call for a £200bn to be pumped into modernising Britain’s schools, hospitals, railways and road network, what he has described as a British New Deal to be funded by increased borrowing.
He has also said he favours the introduction of individual wage councils to oversee pay settlements in certain sectors of the economy amid concerns that British workers are being undercut by foreign labour.
Mr Corbyn has himself pledged to tackle job insecurity and workplace discrimination which he has described as among the UK’s “national ills”.
A spokesperson for his campaign said Mr Smith’s focus on equality of outcomes, reindustrialisation and workers’ rights echoed policies and speeches set out by the Labour leader, and shadow chancellor John McDonnell.
“Owen’s speech today shows the leadership that Jeremy Corbyn has demonstrated in placing economic justice and fairness back at the heart of Labour politics,” they said.
“Under Jeremy, Labour has put restoring dignity and pride in our communities worst hit by decades of neglect at the core of our politics.”
Symbolic location
The recent collapse of retailer BHS and criticism of working practices at Sports Direct has led to renewed calls for action to tackle “corporate exploitation” and narrow the gap between executive pay rises and rank-and-file increases.
The choice of location for Mr Smith’s first major policy speech of the campaign will be seen as symbolic in his battle with Mr Corbyn to win the support of party members, trade unions activists and 180,000 or so registered supporters who have applied to vote in the contest.
Orgreave was the scene of a major confrontation between police and pickets during the 1984 miners’ strike – an incident into which Labour has long demanded a public inquiry.
The coking plant closed in 1991 and the site was redeveloped into a business park.
