‘Corbynmania’ has practically emerged out of nowhere and has everyone of Britain looking up, through the clouds of deficits and housing crises, with newfound hope and determination… and this is really not just a phase, mom.
If you’ve never heard of this man, or are simply looking for more reasons to support him, I have gladly put together a nice list of things that begin to illustrate what Jeremy Corbyn is about.
1. He wants to scrap tuition fees.
As someone who is looking forward to going into higher education very soon, this is a pretty good selling point for me, as it is for loads of other young people. Corbyn has a £10bn plan for this pledge, and believes it can be funded through higher corporation taxes and national insurance, along with easing off the rate of deficit reduction. I should also mention that all of Corbyn’s policies have been deemed ‘sensible’ by 35 leading British economists, just in case you were wondering.
2. He encourages wider representation in Parliament.
Corbyn has selected a shadow cabinet that, the first time in history, includes more women than it does men. Corbyn is also one of the only British politicians who didn’t study a typical degree (eg PPE) at a typically elitist University (eg Oxford or Cambridge). He has also been called out for his lack of concern about his appearance in Parliament, even being called ‘scruffy’, to which he had a great response: “It’s not a fashion parade, it’s not a gentleman’s club, it’s not a banker’s institute; it’s a place where the people are represented.”
3. He is the only mainstream politician who opposes public service cuts and nuclear weapons.
He also believes in restricting the arms trade, and talking to militant groups in order to achieve peace in the Middle East, instead of, namely, using air strikes over Syria. Corbyn has been a member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament for a long time, and one of his more controversial pledges has been to get rid of Trident, Britain’s £100bn nuclear missile system.
4. Two of the biggest unions in Britain have his support.
Unite the Union and Unison, representing 2.5 million workers in total, both openly endorse Corbyn and his pledges.
5. He is an environmentalist who wants everyone to have a garden.
He loves to ride bikes, admitting that he owns two, and is even a member of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Cycling. Corbyn is a vegetarian, and likes to grow his own food. He believes that everyone should have the means to do so, if they wish, too.
“I’ve been involved with converting ground-floor car-parking spaces to growing areas on council estates in my area, giving people access to small growing areas. Children growing potatoes and tomatoes in their own soil is something they never forget.”
6. He is one of the lowest expenses-claiming MPs.
During the MPs expenses scandal of 2009-10, leaked information revealed that Jeremy Corbyn was claiming the lowest amount, out of all MPs in Parliament at the time.
“Late at night here it’s quite disgusting, after the dinners are over and the division bell rings for 10pm, fleets of limousines draw up and out get large Tory MPs with even larger stomachs wearing dinner jackets, and they stride in to vote.”
7. He promises to cut down on tax evasion, and renationalise Britain’s railways.
HMRC data shows that, in the last year, £34bn of due tax money was not paid, clearly demonstrating that this is a problem that definitely needs to be handled soon.
8. His interest in left wing politics has not wavered.
While at school, he was a member of the Young Socialist Club, and the League Against Cruel Sports. He wrote for a political newspaper and worked at a handful of workers unions throughout his career, while also being a member of the Labour Party.
9. He supports movements that tend to be dismissed by other mainstream politicians, and he does so wholeheartedly.
Jeremy is an advocate of an arms embargo on Israel, and is a patron of the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign, believing that Palestinian refugees hold a “right to return”. Back in the 1980s, he was also a well-known activist against the apartheid, and was arrested in 1984 for protesting outside South Africa House.
10. He is authentic and genuine.
Though his being unwilling to sing the national anthem when due causes some type of hysteria amongst right wing media, it was a clear portrayal of his authenticity. Corbyn is a republican who doesn’t exactly celebrate the monarchy, and was elected on the basis of that brand. It should be commended that he did not just go with the flow, despite all the backlash, because it would have been insincere and against a lot of what he stands for if he had.
When it all comes down to it, in my view, Jeremy Corbyn is just a man who sees bad things happening to the masses and wants to make them good, and I think we should help him do that. #JezWeCan
