Jeremy Corbyn tells Labour conference party is 'government-in-waiting' after ecstatic welcome
Jeremy Corbyn was given a rapturous reception from Labour delegates in England as he told them that the party was now the "government-in-waiting".
The Labour leader had to wait several minutes before delivering his keynote speech as the familiar chant of "Oh Jeremy Corbyn" rang round the conference hall in Brighton.
Mr Corbyn said that the June 8 British general election, which saw Labour make its biggest gains since 1945, had put the party on the path to power.
"It is a result that has put the Tories on notice and Labour on the threshold of power," he said to loud applause.
A year after having to fight to keep his job as leader, Mr Corbyn said that the four-day conference had shown a "united party advancing in every part of Britain, winning the confidence of millions of our fellow citizens and setting out our ideas and our plans for our country's future and inspiring people of all ages and all backgrounds".
He promised that Labour in power would be about "making change by working together and standing up for all".
And he said that it would take action to close the gender pay gap, including making equal pay mandatory in large companies.
The Labour leader claimed Theresa May and her ministers were "hanging on by their fingertips", and mocked the British Prime Minister's "strong and stable" election slogan.
He said Labour was ready to tackle inequality, rebuild the NHS and invest in the economy.
It would tackle the "challenges of climate change and automation".
A Labour government would put "peace and justice at the heart of our foreign policy", Mr Corbyn said.
On Brexit, the Labour leader said his party would build a "new and progressive" relationship with Europe.
"We are ready and the Tories are clearly not," he said.
"They are certainly not strong and they are definitely not stable.
"They are hanging on by their fingertips."
In a swipe at Mrs May's £1 billion deal with the DUP to prop up her minority administration, he said the Conservatives had found a "magic money tree" and "now we know the price of power".
