S&P held back the downgrade until the London stock market had closed, so the City hasn’t had chance to react yet, Graeme reports on the Business Liveblog.
But over in New York, shares are falling deeper into the red on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones industrial average has now shed 306 points, a fall of 1.75% today, on top of the 611 points shed during Friday’s tumble.
The Sterling has also just taken another plunge against the dollar, reaching a new low of $1.32.
He spoke defiantly in front of a rally by the pro-Corbyn organization Momentum in parliament square. He didn’t mention the no-confidence vote he’s facing from the Parliamentary Labour Party.
He left that to his shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who made clear that Corbyn would not be resigning his position, and would be a candidate in any future Labour leadership race.
Corbyn calls for “greater respect in the way we treat each other.”
I do not want to live in a country where there are people sleeping in the streets while the mansions are empty. I do not want to walk away from discussions on human rights ... because to me, human rights are universal, not national.
In the background as Corbyn speaks, Big Ben tolls the hour.
I don’t want to be somebody that says to young people, ‘sorry, you’re not going to have it as good as we did because the nation can’t afford it’ ... and we cascade poverty and debt down the generations.
Or are we going to say that the brilliance of science and engineering must be the opportunity for the redistribution of wealth, and that we develop an economy that excites a whole generation that have been told they can only look forward to a future of debt.
More Corbyn, speaking in the shadow of the Palace of Westminster:
We have a government that is giving tax breaks to the super rich. We have a government that is systematically privatising at least half of our NHS, and if you overlay the map of poverty in Britain, one of those heat maps, and then you overlaid it with where the biggest cuts are taking places, they would be exactly the same, because that is the priority of this govt.
John McDonnell as Shadow Chancellor has called this out and turned out party into an anti austerity party, and I thank John for all the work he’s done.
He thanks Diane Abbott, who is standing beside him, for her work as shadow secretary for international development.
“All these issues have to be linked together to economic inequality,” he says.
It’s the spirit of hope or the spirit of despair. Which are we?
No mention so far of the no-confidence vote among Labour MPs that he’s facing.
Jeremy Corbyn addresses his supporters in Parliament Square
“Friends. Straight after we won the leadership election last year we came to this very same spot to speak up for the rights of refugees to live in our society,” he begins.
And one of the horrible disfigurements of our society is racism, intolerance ... and sadly this has increased in the last few days. Can we agree we are going to unite as one society to oppose racism in any form.
And recognise that the grotesque exploitation of workers on zero hours contracts called out by Dennis Skinner in the house of commons shows that we don’t need the blame culture, we need the unite culture to work for the social justice to which we all aspire.
“We will not allow the democracy of our movement to be undermined by a handful of MPs who refuse to accept Jeremy’s mandate,” McDonnell continues defiantly.
We’re not going anywhere. We’re standing solid in solidarity together to ensure we maintain the democracy of our movement, and to ensure that Jeremy Corbyn remains the leader of the Labour Party.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell addresses the pro-Corbyn rally in Parliament Square.
“Let me make this absolutely clear,” he says. “Jeremy Corbyn was elected only nine months ago with the biggest mandate any political leader has had from the rank and file of their party. The biggest. We call that democracy.”
What we have seen in the last few days is a small number of MPs seeking to undermine the democratic decisions of the labour party members and trade union movement
Let me make it absolutely clear. Jeremy Corbyn is not resigning. He’s staying on.
If there are MPs who disagree with Jeremy and his policies, it is open to them under our constitution to seek another election. But let me make it clear: if there is another election, Jeremy Corbyn will be standing again and I will be supporting him.
The no-confidence vote will be a secret ballot of the Parliamentary Labour Party. They would then have to collect 51 names in support of a leadership challenge.
According to Iain Watson, a BBC political reporter, on Twitter: “Jeremy Corbyn’s spokespeople say he will stay in post until there is a formal challenge and will be a candidate in any leadership contest.”
In Parliament square, where Corbyn is expected to speak imminently, his supporters are chanting “Jez we can”.
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