Social responsibility key to good business, Jeremy Corbyn says

Updated

Good business should have social responsibility at its heart, according to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

On a visit to Glasgow to speak at Scottish Labour's annual fundraising dinner, the UK party leader said businesses that work with trade unions should be celebrated.

The trip north of the border is Mr Corbyn's second since becoming leader as he tries to win back voters ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections next May.

Mr Corbyn will visit a housing association before the fundraiser where he will be joined by representatives from Social Bite, a social enterprise he visited on a trip to Glasgow last week.

He will praise the business during his speech and is expected to say: "They are an example of a business with a conscience - giving hope and opportunities to homeless people in Glasgow.

"It is the spirit of businesses like Social Bite that I want to see spread all across this country.

"The financial crisis saw the many pay for the excess of a few people at the top. People who engaged in irresponsible behaviour and asked others to pick up the price. Across the country, millions of people lost out.

"Out of the financial crisis, we should be building an economy based on decent business."

Mr Corbyn added: "I pay tribute to the employers who create jobs, respect their workers, who innovate and change the world for the better.

"People here in Glasgow, and across Scotland, are being asked to work longer and harder for less. That is not right."

Meanwhile, Labour's former chancellor Alastair Darling warned that "time is running out" for Mr Corbyn to convince voters he can handle the economy.

Lord Darling warned that first impressions were "crucially important" and that Mr Corbyn may struggle to change the opinions voters form in the first weeks of his leadership.

The peer, who stood down as an MP in May, said he had "yet to see" what the new Labour leader's economic policy was.

"He's been there for a month now, time is running out," he told BBC2's Newsnight.

"First impressions in politics are crucially important and as many people can testify, if you get the wrong first impression, you may struggle ever to shift it.

"So he needs to be very clear about what his economic policy is, and I'm waiting to see that."

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