"The great dividers want you to think the problems in society are caused by migrants and refugees. They’re wrong."
Jeremy Corbyn, the Independent MP for Islington North, has warned that the UK is at a “critical juncture” and said the country needs “an alternative voice” to the anti-migrant rhetoric that has gained ground this year.
Speaking to Left Foot Forward, the co-founder of Your Party said “we need an alternative voice” and added that “to build this alternative, we need to unite our many communities in fierce opposition to hatred, racism and fear”.
Corbyn encouraged people to keep turning up at demonstrations, “and bringing together people of all backgrounds and languages.”
“That means going out into our communities, engaging with people, and mobilising support for a more hopeful alternative. One based on inclusion, respect and humanity,” he added.
He said that in the New Year, he will undertake a constituency-wide consultation to hear from “the many people who are terrified by the recent planned changes to asylum and immigration policies”.
He highlighted the concerns of carers, teachers, cleaners, and others, noting that “people who have come to this country and contributed so much are fearful for their future in this country.”
Corbyn added: “We don’t just have a message to Reform. We have a message to the Labour government who have emboldened them.
“Shabana Mahmood’s latest assault on asylum seekers is utterly appalling. Labour needs to wake up and realise that you won’t defeat Reform by imitating them. You will embolden them.”
The former Labour leader called the scapegoating of migrants and refugees “a deliberate ploy by governments to distract from their own domestic failures”.
In closing, Corbyn said: “The great dividers want you to think the problems in society are caused by migrants and refugees. They’re wrong. They’re caused by an economic system that protects the interests of the super-rich.”
Olivia Barber is a reporter at Left Foot Forward
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