Jeremy Corbyn today claimed the coronavirus crisis had validated his general election spending plans and showed he was ‘absolutely right’ to advocate boosting investment.
The Labour leader, who will step down on April 4, said he had been widely ‘denounced’ for the amount of money he wanted to spend on the UK’s public services.
But he said the spread of the deadly disease would result in a ‘change in our politics’ and a shift towards his hard-Left political position.
And in a clear hint Mr Corbyn believes voters got it wrong at the ballot box in December he said ‘our society and our politics will never be the same again, because we have suddenly realised as a society and a community, we need everybody’.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell echoed the same sentiment as he claimed: ‘The values of our society I think are changing.’
The comments are likely to spark furious accusations of playing politics from Mr Corbyn and Mr McDonnell’s opponents given the unprecedented nature of the current global outbreak.
However, the spread of the disease and the importance of public services in fighting it is likely to mean the likes of doctors, nurses, teachers and police officers will be viewed by voters as ‘untouchable’ at future elections.
That could dramatically alter the way in which political parties fight for votes and where they promise investment.
Jeremy Corbyn told the BBC the coronavirus crisis had proved he was ‘absolutely right’ about the need to spend more on public services
Mr Corbyn led his party to its worst set of general election results since the 1930s last year having also been defeated at the ballot box in 2017 and he immediately announced his intention to step aside.
Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long Bailey and Lisa Nandy are currently battling for the right to take over from him next month but the leadership contest has been totally overshadowed by recent events.
Labour made increased spending on public services one of its main messages during the election campaign as Mr Corbyn faced repeated questions about how he would pay for his costly plans.
The left will now see the decision by the government to turn on the spending taps as a massive victory and as proof that cash can be found for such measures when it is needed.
Mr Corbyn, who conducted his final PMQs as leader of the opposition this week, told the BBC that coronavirus had proved him ‘absolutely right’.
‘I did everything I possibly could to win both elections and to say to the people of this country the only way our society can come together is if we are prepared to invest,’ he said.
‘I was denounced as somebody that wanted to spend more money than we could possibly afford in order to right the social wrongs of this country.
‘I didn’t think that it would take only three months for me to be proved absolutely right by the amount of money the government is now prepared to put in, and parliament has just voted through, to deal with the coronavirus crisis.
‘So this is a change in our politics which the coronavirus crisis has actually meant.
‘In every country in the world there is suddenly a realisation that we are only as healthy as the safety of our neighbour.’
The government has announced massive bailouts worth tens of billions of pounds for big and small businesses as well as the self-employed to try to stop the economy from collapsing.
Mr Corbyn said the devastation and disruption caused by the disease had forced his political opponents to change their thinking.
He said: ‘They’ve now suddenly realised that they have to spend money to invest in the state, as we have always said as a party, and they have come around to a lot of that position.’
He added: ‘I think our society and our politics will never be the same again, because we have suddenly realised as a society and a community, we need everybody – and everybody has a contribution to make.’
Mr McDonnell was asked this morning if the massive spending announced by the government did represent a ‘fundamental change’ in public opinion or if people are supportive of the measures simply because of the crisis.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor pictured in the House of Commons on Tuesday, said today he believed ‘the values of our society I think are changing’
The shadow chancellor said: ‘I think it opens up a very honest debate now among what sort of society do we want, what sort of public investment and role of government and others and our different agencies and different organisations, what role they should play.
‘As I say, I think everyone is learning the lesson that actually you have to invest in a certain level of public services in particular to enable those to have the resilience.’
Mr McDonnell said the current crisis illustrated that the NHS and other services needed more money.
He said: ‘Last night I was in tears in the street with my neighbours clapping for the NHS workers.
‘I remember in Parliament when a large number of MPs voted a couple of years ago not to give those NHS workers the pay rise they deserve. Let’s hope we have learnt the lesson.
‘Carers, we were clapping carers last night and now carers at home are paid £66 a week, let’s increase carer’s allowance. The values of our society I think are changing.’