Jeremy Corbyn MP, Leader of the
Labour Party, writing
in the Sunday Mirror, said:

Theresa May talks about delivering
an economy that works for working people. But in practice, she’s doing the
opposite. 

In next month’s Budget, the Tories
are set to press on with their endless austerity: still deeper cuts to health
and social care, education and local services.

They’re now trying to take away
more money from people with disabilities – while they’re handing out multi-billion
pound tax breaks to the wealthiest. It’s the nasty party all over again.

Labour is campaigning for an
investment-led economy that restores pride to every community. And we are
determined to end to a tax system rigged for the richest. We think everyone
should pay their fair share.

On Thursday, the people of Stoke
rejected Ukip’s politics of hate and division – and its sham claim to represent
the working class. They voted instead for the NHS, decent jobs and homes,
investment and fairness.

But the result in Copeland was
deeply disappointing. Labour’s share of the vote in Copeland has been falling
for 20 years and of course I take my share of responsibility.

Both these areas, like many others
in Britain, have been left behind by globalisation and lost out from a rigged
economy.

So it’s no surprise that they
rejected the status quo by voting to leave in the EU referendum. That’s why it
was important for Labour to respect the result and vote for Article 50.

The task now is to fight for a
positive future for Britain after Brexit – not the kind of bargain basement tax
haven the Tories want to engineer.

And we must take our message of
economic renewal and fairness to every part of Britain – and show that Labour
has changed under my leadership.

The Conservatives have neglected
working people by cutting investment and letting wages stagnate or fall year
after year. Six million people now earn less than the living wage.

Labour will be campaigning for
investment in decent jobs and homes, education for all, support for the NHS and
social care, and fair taxation.

Last year Labour forced the
Government to U-turn on £4bn cuts to personal independence payments for people
with disabilities. If we stand together we can stop the latest attack
too. 

We haven’t done enough yet to
rebuild trust with people who have been ripped off and sold out for decades and
don’t feel Labour represents them.

But if we stand together, I am
confident we can do that and turn back the Tory tide. 

I was re-elected Labour leader
five months ago with a bigger majority and I am determined to finish that job:
to reconnect Labour with our working class voters and values – so we can win
power to rebuild and transform Britain, for the many, not just the few.

Most days I hear or read a news item that tells me something has happened because of Brexit, or something has happened despite Brexit. Usually the item has nothing to do with Brexit whatsoever, would have happened without the Brexit vote and would have been given a different explanation then.

Some of the media and political spin post Brexit were classic examples of fake news. The commentators , forecasters and journalists put on their dark Brexit glasses, and decided that anything bad which happened happened because of Brexit, and anything good which happened happened despite Brexit. They went out looking for negative stories. The property commentators and some of the valuers wanted to show commercial property was down 15-20%. The only problem was there were plenty of buyers and no sellers at such discounts. They wanted to show housebuilding declined and home prices fell. Apart from top end prices which had been in freefall ever since Mr Osborne’s anti Non Dom anti dear property budget  in April,  home prices stayed up. Housebuilders, often gloomy themselves, had to report good levels of sales and expand their production to cater with rising demand. There were plenty of large company executives prepared to say they were worried  and reviewing their investment in the immediate aftermath of the vote, but when actual news came out about investment it was of new investment being made in the UK to reflect the good levels of consumer and business demand.

So here’s a thought for the gloomy commentators. Most of what is happening on jobs, inflation, investment, car buying, homeownership is nothing to do with Brexit. The price rises we have seen come from higher oil and commodity prices and are in line with similar rises in the USA and Germany which are not undertaking an exit from the EU. Just as joining the EEC did not lead to any increase in UK GDP, just as completing the single market did not lead to any increase in GDP, leaving it should not lead to any fall in GDP. I think leaving the EU is a most important political and constitutional event, but it is not for the UK much of an economic event. It is a bit bigger economic event for the rest of the EU, as they are the ones who will lose our contributions and need to secure their favourable access to our market which they use to such good effect at the moment.

A fire broke out in a hotel Saturday morning in Nanchang, capital of east China’s Jiangxi Province, trapping an unknown number of people, authorities said.

The fire was spotted on the second floor of the HNA Platinum Mix Hotel in the Honggutan New District at about 8 a.m., firefighters said.

More than 10 construction workers were working on a decoration project on the second floor when the fire broke out, said a woman who escaped from the fire.

A man who broke the window to jump from the second floor was injured and rushed to hospital.

The four-story hotel is connected to a 24-story apartment building, where people are also found trapped, as Xinhua reporters saw on the site.

About 10 fire trucks are working to put out the fire.

Beijing should improve city planning and construction to build a “harmonious, world-class capital city” and better meet the demands of its residents, said President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, on Friday.

The city should take comprehensive measures to tackle problems that people care about most, such as air pollution, traffic jams, surging housing prices and too large a population, he said at a meeting after a two-day inspection.

Beijing should improve people’s livelihoods and provide better public services for the people, he said while presiding over a high-profile meeting in the Great Hall of the People to discuss how to improve Beijing’s city management and preparation work for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

“Whether its city planning and construction are good should be measured by how satisfied people are,” he was quoted by China Central Television as saying.

During the two-day inspection tour, Xi visited the construction site of Beijing’s new airport in the southern suburban district of Daxing and major stadiums that are to host Winter Olympics events.

He also visited Tongzhou district, the administrative sub-center of Beijing.

At the airport construction site, Xi urged workers and managers to adopt the strictest standards to ensure building quality.

Xi also stressed city planning and urged officials to study and devise effective policies to ensure Beijing’s sustainable development.

Beijing should stick to improving its core functions as the capital and move its non-capital functions out of the city to ease its population and environmental pressures, he said at the meeting.

On Thursday, Xi listened to a report by municipal departments on the traffic integration of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei province.

The government put forward a national strategy in 2014 to promote coordinated development of the three regional economies so that the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region will grow into a major growth engine for the national economy.

Zhang Liqun, an economist of the State Council’s Development Research Center, said, “The government now emphasizes development of city clusters, and megacities must help neighboring regions develop.

“In the next stage, integration of traffic and water and power supply systems will pick up speed.”

Two nurses in Beijing are under administrative detention for putting their own locks on two publicly shared bikes.

“The two nurses who put private locks on public-use bikes disturbed the public order,” said Liu Lin, a lawyer at Beijing Shuangli Law Firm, because it prevented other people from using the bikes.

Those who intentionally damage property may face a five- to 10-day administrative detention, according to the Law on Public Security Administration Punishments.

Tang Ke from the publicity office of OFO, the company that owns the bikes, confirmed the news and said further investigation was underway.

The market for public-use bikes – which are stored along sidewalks and can be accessed through an app – has boomed in China since the middle of last year. The new mode of transportation has brought a greener and more convenient mode of urban transportation, but the model has also caused many problems including illegal parking, theft and vandalism. Parking violations are also a common problem, followed by violation of traffic rules.

“Once users scan the app and click ‘accept’ when they rent the bike, they have signed an agreement with the service provider and should follow the rules,” Liu said.

OFO has introduced a blacklist banning users who break its rules.

Many cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen are proposing draft regulations to manage the market for public bikes. The Shenzhen traffic police department has also announced fines for the illegal parking of bikes.