Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn vows to tackle the scourge of austerity on visit to Nelson

The man vying to become the country's next Prime Minister was greeted to chants of "Oh Jeremy Corbyn" as he made his way to a gantry set up in Market Square outside Nelson Library.

Welcomed by Pendle's Labour candidate Azhar Ali, Mr Corbyn spoke passionately to a crowd waving Labour placards and clutching mobile phones eager to capture what the leader had to say about Labour's 'grey book' far-reaching manifesto, which he said would tackle the scourge of austerity.

Mr Corbyn said: "We have been told that our manifesto is too bold. Too right it is bold, it needs to be. It is also far-reaching, but again needs to be to tackle the price of austerity.

"Our manifesto is costed in our grey book, it is the only one of all the parties open to scrutiny. It is simply not right that in 2019 we have four million children living in poverty, a mental health crisis and students leaving university with thousands of pounds of debt."

Mr Corbyn said Labour would tackle the nation's housing and income crisis and would create a national education system to properly support schools and colleges.

Speaking about the oft-debated future of the NHS, Mr Corbyn said: "We have one hospital after another in crisis. There is a shortage of staff in the NHS which is an absolute scandal. The Labour Party will put £26bn into our NHS but also tackle the social care crisis. It is about treating people decently.

"We know that Theresa May and Boris Johnson have been in secret negotiations with the US for two years exploring what they euphemistically call Britain's 'health market'. Well, we don't have a health market in Britain, we have a health service."

The Labour leader ended his speech by calling on those assembled to "make Pendle Labour again."