LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he will be speaking again at this year’s Durham Miners’ Gala.

Durham Miners' Association (DMA), which organises the annual event, confirmed that the Labour leader will be speaking from the platform at the Big Meeting on Saturday, July 8.

Mr Corbyn addressed last year's event, which was thought to have been one of the largest in recent years, with a crowd of more than 150,000.

DMA secretary Alan Cummings said: "Hopefully he will be standing there as Prime Minister of the country.

“He gave a pledge that he would love to come back as prime minister. Hopefully that will bear fruit.

"If Corbyn does get elected it will be quite a wonderful day. Some people say it’s not feasible but I think it is. We have a good manifesto."

The last Labour prime minister to address the Gala was James Callaghan in 1979.

Mr Cummings, in a statement on the organisation's website, added: "The Durham Miners' Association are strong supporters of Jeremy's leadership of the Labour Party and we believe that the general election manifesto is the best in generations. We particularly welcome the manifesto commitments to return transport and utilities to public ownership, introduce a real Living Wage, scrap the inhumane Work Capability Assessment, restore proper funding for our NHS, ban zero-hours contracts, hold inquiries into the events at Orgreave and blacklisting and scrap the Tory Trade Union Act.

"Jeremy has described the Big Meeting as 'simply the greatest demonstration of working class culture in Britain' and we are very pleased that once again he has accepted our invitation to speak."

Other speakers lined up to speak at this year's event are film director and political activist Ken Loach, Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, Steve Gillan from the Prison Officer’s Association, Unison regional secretary Clare Williams and shadow education secretary Angela Rayner.

This year's gala will also also include a music festival at Houghall College, which has been introduced in a bid to grow the event further.

The Marras festival, which takes place on Friday, July 7 and Saturday, July 8 will include performances from The Lightning Seeds, Pama International, The Lake Poets, World Headquarters, Social Room, Jazz Riot, Frankie and the Heartstrings and Dennis.