JEREMY Corbyn will say today that he wants the “solidarity, humanity and compassion” shown in Manchester in the aftermath of the bombing to be the guiding values of a future Labour government.
The party leader, who will resume national campaigning following the suspension as a result of the terror attack, will also suggest that the interventionist policies under Tony Blair and David Cameron in Iraq and Libya respectively have increased the terrorist threat at home.
In a speech in central London, Mr Corbyn will say: “This is my commitment to our country. I want the solidarity, humanity and compassion that we have seen on the streets of Manchester this week to be the values that guide our government. There can be no love of country if there is neglect or disregard for its people.
“No government can prevent every terrorist attack if an individual is determined enough and callous enough sometimes they will get through.
“But the responsibility of government is to minimise that chance; to ensure the police have the resources they need, that our foreign policy reduces rather than increases the threat to this country and that at home we never surrender the freedoms we have won and that terrorists are so determined to take away.”
The Labour leader will insist that Labour’s core domestic policy will be to “keep you and your family safe”.
Stressing how this will involve change at home and abroad, he will say: “At home, Labour will reverse the cuts to our emergency services and police. Once again in Manchester, they have proved to be the best of us.
“Austerity has to stop at the A&E ward and at the police station door. We cannot be protected and cared for on the cheap.
“There will be more police on the streets under a Labour Government and if the security services need more resources to keep track of those who wish to murder and maim, then they should get them,” Mr Corbyn will declare.
However, his most controversial comments will come on the issue of foreign policy and the link between the policies of previous Labour and Conservative governments, which he will suggest has increased the threat of terrorism in Britain.
“We will also change what we do abroad,” he will insist. “Many experts, including professionals in our intelligence and security services, have pointed to the connections between wars our government has supported or fought in other countries and terrorism here at home.
“That assessment in no way reduces the guilt of those who attack our children. Those terrorists will forever be reviled and held to account for their actions.
“But an informed understanding of the causes of terrorism is an essential part of an effective response that will protect the security of our people that fights rather than fuels terrorism.”
The Labour leader will add: “We must be brave enough to admit the ‘war on terror’ is simply not working. We need a smarter way to reduce the threat from countries that nurture terrorists and generate terrorism.”
A Conservative source said the party would not be making an immediate response, pointing out how Mr Corbyn had breached an inter-party agreement by releasing his words under a 10pm embargo ahead of Friday’s resumption of national campaigning.
Meantime, as national election campaigning resumed Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader, insisted all campaigners would be "united in defence of our democracy".
Ruth Davidson for the Scottish Conservatives said nothing better rebuked the terrorists’ twisted ideology “than the sight of campaigners out on our streets in free and fair elections asking for people's votes”.
Kezia Dugdale, the Scottish Labour leader, added that passionate democratic debate was one way Britain could “show those who bring terror to our country that they will never win".
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