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Is this the next Prime Minister?
Other | Monday 3rd August 2015 | Christina
There's a movement happening and it's one a lot of young people are getting behind. With the ongoing Labour leadership campaign, we've been flooded by sensationalist headlines, opinions from every current and former politician you can think of as well as a flurry of memes and parody accounts on social media. The man causing the hype is the current front runner in the Labour leadership race, Jeremy Corbyn. So what do you need to know about him?
Who is he?
66-year-old MP for Islington North, and winner of Parliamentary Beard of the Year a record five times. Good start. Corbyn started in the Labour leadership race as a rank outsider, nominated to provide a balanced debate covering all views. He's now hot favourite to win it.
What does he stand for?
Economy – Anti-austerity is his main stance. He wants to lower the deficit through growth, higher wages and higher taxation rather than through spending cuts. He proposes to increase corporation tax and introduce a 50% tax rate for top earners. Corbyn wants to re-nationalise the energy companies and the railways to bring the prices down, and remove any elements of privatisation from the NHS. In the housing sector he is keen to implement rent control, particularly in London.
Education – Corbyn’s central education proposal is to institute a National Education Service, doing for the sector what the NHS does for healthcare. He also wants to completely scrap tuition fees and bring free schools and academies into check.
Defence – Corbyn was strongly opposed to the Iraq War in 2003 and strongly opposes bombing Syria to combat Isis now. He also wants to scrap Trident, the UK’s nuclear deterrent.
Europe – He’s a bit on the fence on this issue; he’s not happy with the current state of the EU, being particularly wary due to the treatment Greece has faced during its financial crisis, but he does want Britain to play a key role in the organisation.
Israel - Corbyn is a patron of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which advocates a boycott of Israeli goods in protest at the situation in Gaza.
Jeremy Corbyn being escorted away by police at a 1984 anti-apartheid protest
Who’s backing him?
Corbyn’s won the backing of the big trade unions, Unison and Unite, as well as from 152 constituency Labour parties, the most out of all the leadership candidates. In terms of the general public, Corbyn has drawn a lot of support from young people, who see him as a fresh start for Labour. He stands up as man of principles next to the uninspiring other candidates Yvette Cooper, Andy Burnham and Liz Kendall. In an article for Vice, Aaron Bastani has collated research and statistics to show how Corbyn’s policies actually align with popular opinion.
Who’s not backing him?
Many Labour MPs are concerned because Corbyn is too left and unelectable as Prime Minister. Shadow Chancellor Chis Leslie has called for Labour to reject his “starry-eyed, hard left” economic strategy, as he believes his ant-austerity policies would cause higher inflation and interest rates, ending in spending cuts and hurting poor people the most. Former PM Tony Blair is also not a fan, stating that anyone who felt their heart was with Corbyn’s politics needs a transplant. The media coverage has also been skewed towards the negative, so much so that the Guardian has undertaken analysis into their own reporting of Corbyn and his campaign.
What's plain to see is that Jeremy Corbyn is providing not only a distinctly different view than the other candidates, with many well thought out proposals, but he's also saying a lot of the things that the public want to hear.
The Labour leadership vote will start in 14th August and close on 10th September, with the results being announced on 12th September.
Take a look at what his supporters on social media have to say on the hashtag #JezWeCan
