What. A. Speech:
Just watch the video/listen to the audio. To remind you: This is the “Unelectable”, until 2015 previously unknown, ‘fare Left (he isn’t)’ political leader in his late sixties. I say this, as for the first few minutes, you may think you are about to watch a Rock Star come on stage. His name is Jeremy Corbyn, he was addressing the 2017 Labour Party Conference, and even if he never gets to become Prime Minister, he has changed the entire political landscape in not only the UK, but across the world. My apologies to those who will have seen me mention these things before-but the message needs to be repeated until it sinks in with everyone!
I appreciate from almost all the mainstream media coverage, you would be expecting to hear from someone who has been labelled as everything evil in this world. To my knowledge, the only thing Jeremy Corbyn has not been labelled as is a paedophile. But it will only be a matter of time. Unfortunately, I’m not joking; I think that is the only crime he has yet to be accused of. A horrible and shocking thing to say, I know. But those who attack him will never stop, and there is nothing they will not do to stop him.
So, why? Why is this man, talking about boring politics, connecting so directly with millions of people? Why is he so hated and derided? The answer to both of those questions is ‘listen to the speech’. Jeremy Corbyn has absolutely blown apart the “I don’t trust any of ’em, they’re all the same, all trying to feather their own nest” mantra that has been (somewhat justifiably) been doing the rounds for years.
“Yes, all very good Adam, he has a great track record, I agree with him on foreign policy, I like him, he’s genuine, he has impressive backing re his economics….but, there’s something about him I don’t like-he doesn’t LOOK like a Prime Minister in waiting!” My answer is that in a leader I look for strength (er, defeating the coup, staying sane re media coverage…), compassion (take your pick of examples), policy (yep, got that covered) and do I trust them and believe they genuinely would always try and do the correct thing (well, yes, definitely!). I don’t want a leader who CRAVES power as an ego trip, who is media trained to the nth degree, who blows all over the place with whichever way the wind is going…It is precisely because of leaders like this that we are in the mess we are today! Why on earth would I want another one???!!!! What did Einstein say was the definition of madness…?
At the same time some Tory MPs had submitted expenses claims for tens of thousands of pounds, Jeremy Corbyn’s read £8.95 for an ink cartridge for the printer in his office. The last two years he has paid too much tax, and is paying for members of his own team out of his own pocket. This is the man who saw the final crash coming in advance, down to the specifics of the American sub prime mortgage issues, but was ignored. This is the man who warned us of the devastating consequences of arming Saddam Hussein in the 1980’s, of Iraq X 2, Syria X 3, Libya, Afghanistan, Apartheid…but was ignored.
This is a man who is constantly told “You are living in cloud cuckoo land” re his economic plan. This is mainly from the Tories; who have borrowed more in 7 years than every Labour government in history. Combined. Borrowing is not the issue, but borrowing AND implementing austerity (which-like every where it has been tried, does not work, of course), while missing every single one of your own fiscal targets, pumping money in via huge amounts of quantitative easing while claiming Corbyn “Would ruin the economy” by doing the same thing…but for those real wealth creators…, while presiding over the slowest growing Western economy and a near-decade of unprecedented wage stagnation and regression, while making the UK literally the most economically unequal country in Europe, with record homelessness, poverty, child poverty and being investigated by the UN for human rights abuses against disabled people.
THIS is the reality of the world we all live in. This is what Corbyn wants to change; and he’s called a deluded idiot for trying to do so. What is extraordinarily strange about the attacks on him, is that Corbyn & McDonnell’s economic plans are backed by over 130 of the world’s best economic minds, including former Bank of England advisers and 2 Nobel Prize winning economists. The plan includes the use of National Investment & Regional Investment Banks, used with great success by Germany and others. So, these people attacking the economic plan are saying the best economic minds in the world, and Germany, are rubbish re finances???!!! Or maybe it is because this much-needed economic change is an alternative to the system that you have been told there is no alternative to. Neo Liberal Free Market economics. It has failed, and is failing, spectacularly.
His economics are supported by the best judges available and based on what we already know has worked elsewhere. His track record re conflict/foreign policy is literally second to none. Even his biggest critics would not doubt his honesty, compassion, passion, empathy and sincerity. I have always been loyal to policy and people; which is why it is impossible, if you take a step back and genuinely want the best possible life for the most amount of people, NOT to support Corbyn!!! His whole life he has been derided, then proven correct by history. Time and again. Derided by the same people who got all these big calls wrong…yet insist we trust them again and they have our best interests at heart. Patently, they don’t.
In this speech, which had me in tears, you see all the good of Corbyn’s Labour, which is all the bad for non-doms, the mega rich who have little in the way of morals, and the political elite who have helped make politics deliberately boring, complicated and unappealing for so many years. I have never seen any politician engage people to this extent in my lifetime. It’s not hard to see why, when you listen to the speech. Make a note of what is actually proposed, NOT what you’re told by others, and, I am confident you will agree that it’s basic common sense. These plans are only radical because the political zeitgeist had gone so far to the right, people espousing private healthcare, de-nationalisation and more bank de-regulation were still classed as ‘on the Left’. What Corbyn suggests is basic common sense. But, I appreciate, this IS radical to those seemingly disgusted by the nerve of the man trying to improve people’s lives. The cheek!
The speech had everything-it covered lots, but the main themes ran through every point made-democracy, inclusiveness, collectivism, humility, solidarity. Corbyn made sure those listening were in no doubt that he heads a powerful Movement. He got a standing ovation for his words in defence of the Palestinians and a genuine two-state solution, he made a point of publicly defending Dianne Abbot against the vile abuse she has received (and singing Happy Birthday to her), of defending those who feel they are voiceless, the environment, animal welfare, the elderly, the young, the single parent, the orphan, the family, ethnic minorities AND majorities, worker’s rights, the working classes, the middle classes, the homeless, the poor, the vulnerable, our public sector workers, our health and education systems being people-first, not profit first.
He was very funny, very confident and very inspirational. The resolve he has shown has not been matched by any UK political figure I have known; who else could have put up with the lies, horrific abuse, death threats, bullying and character assassinations he has-and does?! In fact, he actually asked the editor of The Daily Mail to give him twice as much negative coverage at the next election! He makes a big point of outlining the two main successes of this Movement so far-The People and the Manifesto (which was the most collaborative, possibly ever-remember the Conservative’s Manifesto was written by 3 people…look what happened…). Corbyn opens in praise of the sacrifices made by those in the past, to inspire us all now. He reminds us all why this is so important.
Corbyn, and Labour members have been accused of celebrating as if Labour had won the election in June. Again, this fundamentally misunderstands the Movement. The reason the atmosphere was so positive, is that both Corbyn and his supporters have been vindicated. This was not “We’ve won”, this was “We’ve completed part one only”. That Corbyn and his supporters had to do this, is down to the absurd criticisms and hate flung at us all on a minute-by-minute basis. Like Corbyn, his supporters have been labelled as the most vile of human beings. This, of course, is literally the antithesis of the truth. My own local group is made up of all ages, backgrounds, economic circumstances etc etc. From the unemployed to economists and professors. From solicitors to shop workers. All the same in the eyes of members and Corbyn, because, of course, we ARE all the same in terms of our ‘worth’.
This was a historic speech from a leader who has positively changed the present (Solidarity) and future (Hope) for so many people, in a way no other political leader has done, since arguably Atlee/Bevan in the 1940s. All this and he’s not even in power….yet. While it has been essential Corbyn stood firm against unprecedented attacks, because who else could do that with such grace?, by his own admission, Jeremy Corbyn is the current leader of a Movement. We needed and need Corbyn now, in order to make the future better for us all and his eventual successor. But it can, and will, only happen if it is a WE, not just the individual. We must reject the status quo and usher in a world that gives everyone a chance of a decent standard of living. As I say, basic common sense.
So, even if you are still in doubt, I ask you to do these two things: 1. Please don’t take my word, or that of the millions already in the Movement, please research these things for yourself. Nothing is more empowering than discovering the truth for yourself. 2. Ask yourself why you would not want to support someone who inspires so many, who gets teenagers climbing trees to catch a glimpse as the venue he’s speaking at is sold-out many-times over? Why you would not support someone who has been proven correct on every major conflict, on the economics, on how to connect with people, on how to LISTEN to people? Then think of what the alternative to this is.
Corbyn is not the messiah, because he is one of us; none of us are perfect. But he is also not the naughty boy you have been told he is. He is merely someone wanting to implement sound, basic common sense into a world ruled by those whose entire wealth and power is inextricably linked to you believing there is no other way, and that this new proposal is “pie in the sky”. There is a reason the aforementioned hate him so much; because he is a threat to the status quo. He cannot be bought. The reason they hate him is the reason we support him-he is the exception that proves the rule. Please do not let those who rely on your complicity, tell you that your life cannot be better, because it demonstrably can be. But only if we are willing to support each other, stay strong and force change on those who fear it most.
Solidarity with you all. Jeremy Corbyn, really, genuinely, is For The Many, Not The Few.The People United Will Never Be Defeated.
#JC4PM
Adam Samuels
