Jeremy Corbyn admits there have been 'too many failures' under his leadership of Labour
In an interview, with Piers Morgan, the Good Morning Britain host compared Jeremy Corbyn to beleaguered Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jeremy Corbyn has said there have been 'too many' failures during his time as Labour leader for him to be expected to name just one.
In an interview on ITV's Good Morning Britain, Piers Morgan repeatedly asked Mr Corbyn to name anything he had done while leader that he would consider a 'failure.' Mr Corbyn constantly avoided answering the question before, right at the end, saying: "There have been too many."
Mr Corbyn appeared on the show to discuss Labour's new initiative to boost the allowance for carers by 17 per cent, paid for by reversing Conservative plans to lower inheritance tax.
Mr Morgan compared Jeremy Corbyn to under pressure Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, who has been on the receiving end of fan protests calling for his resignation.
Both Mr Corbyn and Mr Morgan are Arsenal fans, and Mr Morgan among the most vociferous critics of the Arsenal manager.
Asked how he would fund his proposal to increase the carer’s allowance by £10 a week, he said: “By changing the inheritance tax which the Conservatives have given a bit of a giveaway to the better off. By reducing inheritance tax we would reverse that and this would be sufficient to pay for this. I think it’s the right thing to do. I think carers are really the unsung heroes.
“Many have to give up their jobs in order to care for people.”
Of whether he was frustrated such favourable policies weren’t translating to electoral support he said: “I think over time they will actually. I think the issue will get out there more and more, people will begin to understand that we don’t have to go through these levels of austerity in Britain. We don’t have to have these levels of inequality; we don’t have to have these levels of poverty in Britain. I think people will begin to see that actually what we’re saying makes a lot of credible sense.”
Asked where he felt he was going wrong - the Tories currently hold a 21-point lead - Corbyn said: “I’m not going into any big public self-analysis. What I will say is of course I reflect on decisions we’ve made. I reflect on all of this all the time. I want the party to be united around these policies. I think you’ll find the vast majority of Labour members would support these policies.
“These are the policies this country needs. This country cannot cope with the levels of inequality and poverty we’ve got.”
Quizzed on a GQ magazine article comparing him to Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger, he said: “It’s nonsense - both of us are extremely hard-working people. Arsene Wenger is out on the training ground every morning, I’m out working for the Labour party. Absolutely not [lazy]. I think it’s a fairly absurd comparison actually.”
After the interview, Mr Morgan said: "I can't help liking Jeremy Corbyn. Like Wenger, a decent principled man - but seems oblivious to reality."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments