Varoufakis: Tories will use fear of Greek-style collapse to attack Labour anti-austerity (VIDEO)
Former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis warned Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and his new frontbench team that Tory opponents would mount a campaign of fear against their anti-austerity message.
Varoufakis addressed Corbyn, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell and Shadow Secretary for International Development Diane Abbott at a Peoples’ Assembly Against Austerity event on Monday night.
He told the Labour ministers they are embarking upon a path that will “not be rosy.”
“Your opponents, Diane, Jeremy, John, are going to use fear as their main instrument.
“They will say to you that a Corbyn government will push up the pound. This is what the systemic media will tell people in their living rooms.
“You will be told … if Corbyn gets elected Labour will be like Syriza and the United Kingdom will be like Greece.
“Don’t fear them. People are perfectly capable of sifting through this. The people who can overcome fear if the leadership overcomes fear.”
In response, Abbott said she hopes the result of Corbyn’s victory will enable Labour to defeat austerity in Britain once and for all.
“But I hope the result of Corbyn's victory at the weekend gives us renewed hope to believe that we can take the fight against austerity off the street and into parliament,” she said.
In a speech to before the Trades Union Congress (TUC) annual conference in Brighton on Tuesday, Corbyn vowed to tackle austerity, saying it is a “political choice, not an economic necessity.”
Corbyn accused the Tories of being “poverty deniers,” driving up poverty.
“They call us deficit deniers. But then they spend billions cutting taxes for the richest families or for the most profitable businesses.”
Speaking about the Labour Party’s beliefs, Corbyn said: “We oppose the benefit cap. We oppose social cleansing. We will bring the welfare bill down by controlling rents and boosting wages, not by impoverishing families and socially cleansing our communities.”
