Jeremy Corbyn: Labour cannot go on being 'Tory-lite'

The bookmakers' favourite to succeed Ed Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn's campaign is gathering pace in the final month before the Labour leadership elections

Jeremy Corbyn, forerunner for the Labour leadership election, at a rally on 3 August 2015 (Carl Court/Getty Images)

Labour leadership forerunner Jeremy Corbyn says that the party has become "Tory-lite" and will not be re-elected until it offers an alternative to Conservative policies.

The Islington North MP has told Channel 4 in an interview: "We cannot go on being 'Tory-lite'. We’ve got to be true to ourselves."

"Labour lost the election because I don’t believe we offered a credible alternative to what the Conservatives were offering," he said.

If the Labour party continues to move nearer to the Conservatives and increases austerity measures instead of decreasing them, then they will lose more support, Mr Corbyn said.

Mr Corbyn's proposed policies include extending the Conservatives' Right To Buy policy to the tenants of private for-profit landlords, and eliminating university tuition fees and providing student grants.

"We will gain people back to our party when we promise to deal with the housing crisis, deal with the needs of the NHS, deal with the needs of our welfare state," Mr Corbyn said.

"And above all give young people a real chance, a real stake in society rather than a life on debt."