Jeremy Corbyn A Profile

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    Lizzie Fletcher
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    For everyone who gets asked about Jeremy Corbyn ✊🏼 Here is a compendium of replies from Koser Saeed at https://www.facebook.com/spotlightnewspaperuk/

    This profile is about 9 pages long so brace yourselves…

    • Corbyn was attracted to politics at a very early age. As a school child, Corbyn became active in The Wrekin constituency Young Socialists, his local Labour Party and with the League Against Cruel Sports. He also joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) in 1966.
    • Corbyn sat on the Social Security Select Committee from 1992 to 1997
    • Corbyn was elected to the steering committee of the Stop the War Coalition In October 2001 and actively opposed the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, both in parliament and at dozens of anti-war rallies in Britain and overseas.
    • Corbyn was chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on the Chagos Islands. He advocated for the rights of the forcibly-removed Chagossians to return to the British Indian Ocean Territory.
    • Corbyn was chair of the APPG on Mexico
    • Corbyn was Vice-Chair of the APPG on Latin America
    • Corbyn was Vice-chair of the APPG on Human Rights.
    • Corbyn sat on the London Regional Select Committee from 2009 to 2010
    • Corbyn sat on the Justice Select Committee from 2010 to 2015.
    • Corbyn was Chair of the Stop the War Coalition (14 June 2011 – 12 September 2015)
    • Corbyn is the current, twice elected, leader of the Labour Party (12 September 2015 – present)
    • Corbyn frequently voted against the Labour whip under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He was even labelled the most rebellious left wing back bench Labour MP after he’d defied the Labour whip 428 times during Labour’s term in government (1997-2010).
    • Corbyn has been an activist working for Anti-Fascist Action (AFA) and was appointed National Secretary shortly after it was launched (founded in 1985). He also supports the ‘Unite Against Fascism’ pressure group.
    • Corbyn became Vice-Chair at CND (one of 3 at the time) before being appointed vice-president in 2015. CND’s primary goals were unilateral nuclear disarmament and tighter international arms regulation and opposing any military action that involved the use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.
    • Corbyn openly advocates for renationalisation of public utilities and the railways.
    • Corbyn is pro-choice and supports legalising abortion and same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland.
    • Corbyn openly advocates for a reversal of austerity cuts to welfare and public services.
    • Corbyn campaigned for the UK to remain in the EU during the 2016 referendum.
    • At 19, Corbyn did 2yrs of Voluntary Service as a youth worker and geography teacher in Jamaica.
    • He then spent 2yrs in Latin America visiting Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile and took part in a student demonstration in São Paulo against the Brazilian military government. He was also able to attend the May Day march in Santiago when Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity alliance swept to power in the Chilean elections in 1970.
    • In 1971, Corbyn became a Trade Union official working for the National Union of Tailors and Garment Workers. He also worked as a trade union organiser for the National Union of Public Employees and Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union. Corbyn is a member of various parliamentary trade union groups and is sponsored by several trade unions, including UNISON, Unite and the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers. As an MP, Corbyn has consistently, without fail, voted to protect worker’s rights and voted in support of trade union powers.
    • Corbyn was a member of a district health authority before he was elected as a Cllr for Haringey Council in 1974 and he remained a Cllr until 1983 when he was then elected as Member of Parliament for Islington North.
    • On the 23 April 1977 Jeremy Corbyn, took part in a 12,000 strong anti-Nazi demonstration which stopped the fascist National Front marching through Wood Green.
    • In 1978, as a delegate from Hornsey, Corbyn successfully moved a motion at the Labour Party conference calling for dentists to be employed by the NHS (rather than private contractors).
    • Also at the 1978 Labour conference, Corbyn took part in a debate in which he described a motion that was calling for greater support for law and order as “more appropriate to the National Front than to the Labour Party”
    • Corbyn worked on Tony Benn’s unsuccessful deputy leadership campaign in 1981.
    • Around the same time, Corbyn successfully challenged Labour’s National Executive when he advocated for Tariq Ali (a former International Marxist Group member) to be allowed to join the Labour party. A few months later, the local party also voted, 17 to 14, to insist on Ali’s membership.
    • In 1982, Corbyn was fighting to stop the Labour Party from expelling members of the ‘Militant’ (a newspaper that launched in 1964) from the party. ‘Militant’ was seen by the Labour Party as a ‘Trotskyist entryist’ group. He argued that “If expulsions are in order for Militant, they should apply to us too.”
    • Also in 1982, Corbyn was the “provisional convener” of the “Defeat the Witch-Hunt Campaign”, based at Corbyn’s then address.
    • Corbyn did not support Thatcher’s decision to go to war over the Falklands Island in 1982 and referred to it as a Tory plot. Corbyn believed that “some reasonable accommodation” could be achieved with Argentina over their Falkland Islands dispute and proposed considering a “degree of joint administration” between the two countries. Corbyn also submitted an alternative motion that condemned the war as a “nauseating waste of lives and money”.
    • In 1983, shortly after Corbyn was elected MP for Islington North, he started writing a weekly column for the Morning Star newspaper.
    • Also in 1983, in an attempt to open up dialogue with Sinn Féin, a number of MPs, including Corbyn, met with Gerry Adams at Westminster, after Adams had just become the first Sinn Fein MP. The following year (1984), Corbyn and Ken Livingstone invited Adams along with two convicted IRA volunteers and other members of Sinn Féin back to Westminster. Although the invites had been issued some time ago, the meeting took place 3 weeks after the Brighton hotel bombing (that hit the Conservative Party Conference). This set Corbyn at odds with certain political quarters and has continued to rile people to this day, despite the fact that the motivation behind the meetings – i.e. to open dialogue in order to put a stop terrorist activity – was honourable and that the need to find a solution was never more critical given the heightened threat level at the time.
    • Also, around the same time, Corbyn was speaking out in support of the “no socialism without gay liberation” campaign and he has continued to campaign for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights ever since.
    • In the 1980’s, Corbyn also worked on behalf of the Guildford Four and Birmingham Six, men who had been wrongly convicted for a number of fatal IRA bombings in the 70s.
    • Corbyn was an activist for and also served on the National Executive of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), originally known as the Boycott Movement, a British organisation at the heart of the international movement opposing the South African apartheid system. He was also a member of the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group (CLAAG) who, in 1984, carried out a “non-stop picket” for 1,408 days to campaign for Nelson Mandela’s release from prison. It was during this campaign that Corbyn was arrested outside South Africa House.
    • Corbyn supported the 1984–85 miners’ strike and in 1985 he invited striking miners into House of Commons gallery but they were then expelled for shouting: “Coal not dole”. For his efforts during the strike, Corbyn was given a medallion by the miners in recognition of his help.
    • Corbyn was against the British occupation of Ireland and campaigned for a united Ireland, which is why he voted against the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement because it supported hard borders in Ireland.
    • In 1986, Corbyn was arrested but not charged along with 15 other demonstrators for protesting against the trial of a group of alleged IRA members, some who were later convicted.
    • In 1987, Corbyn attended a commemoration by the Wolfe Tone Society to remember people who have died fighting for an independent Ireland.
    • In 1988, Jeremy Corbyn was amongst the first to speak out against Saddam Hussein’s Halabja chemical attack against the Kurdish people and this was when Saddam was still an ally of the west. He called on the Tory government to institute sanctions against Iraq and Iran to end the Iran–Iraq War and the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds.
    • In 1990, Corbyn opposed the poll tax and nearly went to jail for refusing to pay it.
    • In 1998, Corbyn voted for the Good Friday Agreement, which he believed would provide “peace, hope and reconciliation in Ireland in the future.”
    • Corbyn supported the campaign to overturn the convictions of Jawad Botmeh and Samar Alami for the 1994 bombing of the Israeli Embassy in London. Alami and Botmeh were accused of being part of a team but not of actually planting the bomb or even being present at the scene but despite the fact there was no direct evidence linking the suspects to the bombing, they were both convicted of the charges in December 1996 and given 20-year sentences. Both have maintained their innocence and have attracted support from Amnesty International and numerous other groups and individuals, including the Palestinian Govt, Unison, human rights activist Gareth Peirce, investigative journalist Paul Foot, and Miscarriages of JusticeUK. Their appeal even attracted cross-party support from 71 elected members of Parliament including Jeremy Corbyn & John McDonnell, Conservative MPs Peter Bottomley & Robert Jackson and Liberal Democrats MPs Tom Brake and Colin Breed.
    • In 2006, Corbyn supported calls for a parliamentary inquiry into the Iraq War.
    • Also in 2006, Corbyn signed a petition calling for the lifting of the ban on the Tamil Tigers. It stated that “the Sri Lanka government is carrying out an undeclared war against the Tamil people who have been struggling for more than two decades for the legitimate right to self-rule” and called for an end to aerial bombardment by the Sri Lankan government. Corbyn also called out the depopulation of Tamil areas of Eastern Sri Lanka and the relocation of Tamils, preventing them from returning home, as well as reports of systematic sexual violence and called for a total economic boycott of Sri Lanka and for the arms trade to Sri Lanka to stop.
    • In 2010, Corbyn accused the Israeli ambassador, Ron Prosor, of interfering in British politics. He pointed out that a number of speeches given by British MPs on the subject of the Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010 appeared to be written by the same Israeli representative because they were clearly “pre-prepared script” and were using the same key buzz-words, such as “Israel’s need for security”, “the extremism of the people on one ship” and “the existence of Turkish militants on the vessel”. These exact buzz-words were in practically every single speech given by MPs speaking in support of Israel.
    • In 2011, Corbyn opposed military intervention in Libya.
    • In 2013, Corbyn was awarded the Gandhi International Peace Award for his “consistent efforts over a 30-year parliamentary career to uphold the Gandhian values of social justice and non‐violence”
    • Also in 2013, Corbyn was honoured by the Grassroot Diplomat Initiative for his “ongoing support for a number of non-government organisations and civil causes”
    • Corbyn said of Hugo Chávez (former President of Venezuela), following his death in 2013, that Chávez had “made massive contributions to Venezuela and to a very wide world”.
    • Corbyn has been criticised for congratulating the current President of Venezuela’s, Nicolás Maduro, who was democratically elected to office in 2014. Maduro has since been accused of human rights abuses so, naturally, right wing politicians and the right wing media have used this to attack Corbyn, and imply some sort of association, while at the same time conveniently overlooking Honduras, where a US-backed government has been just as ruthless in crushing dissent, not to mention allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel who abuse human right with absolute impunity. It’s also worth noting that Venezuela is an oil rich nation. I think it’s also fair to speculate that Corbyn’s refusal to support western efforts at regime also makes him a target for parties interested in securing such resources for themselves.
    • In an article on the Morning Star in 2014, Corbyn expressed his view that given that Israel possesses at least 200 nuclear warheads and the fact that it is the only country in the region with nuclear weapons and the only country that is not a signatory to the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons) that there has to be a political process outside the treaty that could ensure that Israel decommissions its nuclear weapons.
    • In October 2014, Corbyn visited Tunisia to attend the “International Conference on Monitoring the Palestinian Political and Legal Situation in the Light of Israeli Aggression”. He was there along with a number of other British MPs to commemorate the victims of the 1985 Israeli air strikes on PLO headquarters in Tunis. The then British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the U.S. President Ronald Reagan and the UN Security Council all openly condemned the Israeli air strikes at the time. However, in August 2018, the right wing and pro-Israeli press in the UK, most notably the Daily Mail and the Jerusalem Post, manufactured a story alleging that Corbyn was there to lay a wreath at the graves of Salah Khalaf and Atef Bseiso, two men who were thought to have been key members of the Black September Organization behind the 1972 Munich massacre. The BBC later revealed that the memorial for the 1985 victims was a designated confined area where all dignitaries, including Corbyn, would have stood and it was mere coincidence that this area included the graves of Bseiso and Khalaf.
    • In 2015, Corbyn opposed military intervention in Syria saying that “The issue whether what the Prime Minister (David Cameron) is proposing strengthens, or undermines, our national security…I do not believe the current proposal for air strikes in Syria will protect our security and therefore cannot support it.” 66 Labour MPs voted with the Tories for the air strikes (including Hilary Benn & Tom Watson) but the majority of Labour MPs voted against.
    • In 2016, Corbyn released a video stating his “solidarity to stand with the Tamil community in the search for truth, justice, accountability and reconciliation”, while the Labour Party reiterated its ” full implementation of the UN Human Rights Councils resolution on Sri Lanka”; some Tamil activists interpreted the video to be a signal of Jeremy Corbyn’s “support for Tamil self-determination”.[355] In 2017, John McDonell stated that a Corbyn led Labour government would end arms sales to Sri Lanka.
    • In 2016, Corbyn also expressed criticism of Britain’s involvement in the Saudi led intervention in Yemen and after the UN ruled the bombing in Yemen contravened international humanitarian law, Corbyn called for an independent inquiry into the UK’s arms exports policy to Saudi Arabia.
    • Corbyn has been a long-time supporter of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, which is a British organisation that campaigns against the US embargo of Cuba and for an end to the US occupation of Cuban land at Guantanamo Bay. It also defends the Cuban people’s right to be free from foreign intervention. In November 2016, following the death of Fidel Castro (revolutionary and former President of Cuba), Corbyn said of Castro that despite his flaws he was none-the-less a “huge figure of modern history, national independence and 20th Century socialism” and that “Castro’s achievements were many.” These statements of fact were then taken and deliberately misconstrued by Labour ‘centrists’ to imply that Corbyn was somehow glossing over Castro’s human rights abuses.
    • In 2017, Corbyn was asked if he condemned the genocide of Kurds in Syria and in Turkey. An odd question framed perhaps to imply that, as a socialist, Corbyn might be too weak to stand up to abuses by so-called allies (it’s a wonder why these questions are rarely directed at Tory ministers who have clearly demonstrated an unwillingness to act against human rights abuses by allies like Saudi Arabia and Israel). Corbyn’s response was clear… “I would be very strong with the Turkish government on its treatment of Kurdish people and minorities and the way in which it’s denied them their decency and human rights.” And “If arms are being used to oppress people internally in violation of international law then they simply should not be supplied to them” (which is more than the Tories have been prepared to do).
    • In 2017, Corbyn signed a cross-party petition addressed to Home Secretary Amber Rudd. The letter highlighted how women attending abortion clinics are having to “face daily abuse when undergoing terminations” and requested making it a criminal offence for anti-abortion campaigners to hold protests immediately outside abortion clinics. It also proposed that campaigners should instead be given space elsewhere – outside of a buffer zone around a clinic.
    • Also in 2017, the American magazine ‘Foreign Policy’ named Corbyn in its Top 100 Global Thinkers list “for inspiring a new generation to re-engage in politics” and he was also one of 3 people to be awarded the ‘Seán MacBride Peace Prize’ for the work he’d done supporting disarmament and peace of the years.
    • In January 2017, Corbyn again repeated his concern about Israeli involvement in British politics, after the broadcasting of ‘The Lobby’ documentary. He also expressed his concern for Britain’s national security after Boris Johnson took the decision to simply close the matter.
    • In March 2018, Corbyn accused Theresa May’s government of “colluding” in Saudi war crimes in Yemen that caused a humanitarian disaster with millions now facing starvation as a direct result of bombing and blockades.
    • During his speech at the 2018 Labour Party conference, Corbyn declared he would immediately recognise the State of Palestine as this would make a two-state solution more viable. He also condemned the “shooting of hundreds of unarmed demonstrators in Gaza by Israeli forces and the passing of Israel’s discriminatory nation-state law”
    • In October 2018, Corbyn called on May’s government to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia, following the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul.
    • In May 2019, Corbyn sent a message of support to the ‘National Demonstration for Palestine’ in London to say that Labour condemned the “ongoing human rights abuses by Israeli forces, including the shooting by Israeli forces of hundreds of unarmed Palestinian demonstrators in Gaza – most of them refugees or families of refugees – demanding their rights”. The demo was also attended by Palestinian child heroine, Ahed Tamimi.
    • Corbyn has been criticised for going on a number of call-in shows on Press-TV (Iran’s equivalent to the BBC) to discuss various political issues, while appearing alongside a number of vocal critics of Israel and Zionism. Corbyn’s critics took the opportunity to make a number of libellous claims at the time to suggest that this action of going on a TV program somehow showed that Corbyn supported the Iranian governments actions and that he was prepared to turn a blind eye to the persecution, imprisonment and even execution of homosexuals in the country. This ridiculous conflation is ridiculous of course and, not surprisingly, no such claims were made when the UK Prime Minister and US President visited Saudi Arabia or Israel, whose human rights abuses are equally shocking.
    • On Scottish independence, Corbyn has said that while he would prefer the UK to stay together, as a socialist, he respects the right of people to be able to “take the decision on their own autonomy and independence.” And that it would be wrong for the UK Parliament to block a referendum if the Scottish Parliament desired to have one.
    • Corbyn is against the establishment of Academy Schools and supports properly funding education, scrapping university tuition fees, restoring maintenance grants and funding a free national education service. He has also said that he would investigate the possibility of cancelling student loan debts incurred by recent graduates. Corbyn has consistently voted in favour of these ideals and against academisation.
    • Although Corbyn has been a very vocal opponent of violence and war, he does not consider himself a pacifist and has referred to the Spanish Civil War, the British naval blockade to stop the slave trade in the 19th century and the role of UN peacekeepers in the 1999 crisis in East Timor as justified conflicts.
    • Corbyn has been criticised for being a vocal opponent of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), which he has described as an “instrument of cold war manipulation” and an “engine for the delivery of oil to the oil companies”. However, Corbyn has acknowledged that staying in NATO is still a popular policy so, rather than pushing for the UK to leave NATO, he argues that we need greater “democratic accountability” and restrictions placed on the role that NATO can play.
    • Corbyn supports unilateral nuclear disarmament and has said he would not authorise the use of nuclear weapons if he were prime minister because he did not believe that the threat of mass murder would be a legitimate way to deal with international relations.
    • Corbyn is not a fan of Donald Trump. He has described Trump as a divisive figure and called for his state visit to the UK to be cancelled after Trump issued an executive order banning visitors from certain majority-Muslim countries from entering the US. He’s also been critical of Trumps meddling in British politics. In response to Trump’s endorsement of Boris Johnson, Corbyn said it is “not Trump’s business who the British prime minister is” and Corbyn has also criticised Trump’s attacks on the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. He also effectively referred to Boris Johnson as Trump’s lap dog after Trump attempted to undermine Corbyn and then openly endorse Johnson.
    • Corbyn is a member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. He has campaigned and spoken out against Israel killing Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Corbyn has also called for an investigation into Israeli influence in British politics. Corbyn supports targeted boycotts of Israeli products aimed at undermining the existence of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
    • As a proponent for dialogue as a way to avoid conflict situations. Corbyn has attempted to open up dialogue with representatives from Hamas and Hezbollah. In his introduction, Corbyn referred to them by saying “our friends are prepared to talk” but supporters of Israel decided to make capital out of the phrase by implying that Corbyn was overly close or friendly with Hamas and Hezbollah, both organisations they liked to refer to as terrorist groups. Corbyn has spoken out against the British government’s decision to label Hamas a terrorist organisation.
    • Corbyn is highly critical of Donald Trump and supports the lifting of sanctions against Iran and a negotiated reinstatement of the Iranian nuclear programme. In a recent tweet, he called on the UK to “reject the dangerous Trump-Netanyahu coalition to end the Iran nuclear deal”.
    • Corbyn supports the youth movement to stop climate change. He retweets their campaign posts and makes a point of attending their rallies. As an MP, Corbyn has consistently, without fail, voted to protect the environment and to protect animal rights. He also wants to invest in a green industrial revolution that includes more tidal, wind and solar power projects and an improved transport infrastructure (to reduce emissions and improve air quality) which will boost clean energy as well as create more jobs.
    • Corbyn is a major critic of companies like Amazon who pay almost no tax in the UK. As an MP, Corbyn has consistently, without fail, voted in favour of measures designed to prevent companies from taking advantage of loop holes allowing them to evade paying the proper tax.
    • Corbyn has been very clear that a labour government will put an end to banker’s bonuses.
    • Corbyn has continued to speak out for victims of Grenfell still fighting for justice today.
    • Corbyn supports a total ban on Trophy Hunting imports and has twice voted for clauses to the Ivory Bill that were aimed at reducing the global demand for Ivory and broadening the number of species to be protected.
    • Corbyn supports a complete ban on keeping primates as pets. There are currently up to 5,000 primates being kept in cages in the UK.
    • Corbyn has repeatedly spoken out against children being made homeless (even living in shipping containers) and going hungry as a result of Tory austerity policies. He has voted to call on the Chancellor of the Exchequer to carry out a review of the impact of changes to income tax thresholds in regards to equalities, regional differences and child poverty. He has voted for Breakfast and After-School Clubs to provide 8am-6pm Childcare.
    • Corbyn has repeatedly spoken out against people being forced into rough sleeping. He voted to call on the government to end rough sleeping and take action to address the root causes of rising homelessness. He has also voted for more homes to be built and for improvements in the private rented sector in order to reduce homelessness and rough sleeping.
    • Corbyn supports banning fracking and believes if we permit fracking then we have no chance of reaching a net zero emissions target by 2050.
    • Corbyn supports a new Labour initiative to revive Britain’s High Streets by giving local authorities the power to take over the management of any commercial properties that have been left unused for over 12 months in order to bring them back into active use.
    • Corbyn supports a ban on donations to political parties from people or companies who are not registered to pay tax in the UK. In a recent tweet he made it clear that Labour would not tolerate allowing people to influence British politics who don’t contribute their fair share in taxes to our public services.
    • Corbyn wants to bring in measures to tackle rogue landlords and supports greater financial penalties for Landlords who breach the law limiting what tenants can charged for.
    • Corbyn fundamentally believes in fairer wealth distribution and wants to end the north/south divide in this country by investing in the north. In parliament he has consistently voted for an increase in funding for local governments and voted against central government cuts.
    • Corbyn wants to see proper funding for the NHS & welfare services and recently voted for the government to publish its briefing papers and analysis, including an impact assessment of public health spending reductions and falling life expectancy. He consistently votes in favour of increased funding for the NHS and in favour of restoring NHS bursaries for nursing, midwifery, allied health professions and for undergraduate dental profession subjects.
    • Corbyn supports properly funded youth services, free nursery places for 3 and 4 year olds and guaranteed 8am-6pm childcare (via breakfast and after-school clubs).
    • Corbyn has been highly critical of the Tory government’s inability to understand the connection between increased flooding and global warming. He voted for a thorough assessment of future flood risk as a result of climate change, outlined at the Paris Summit and in favour of spending £800 million per year on maintenance and strengthening of flood defences.
    • Corbyn believes that Legal Aid and Advice should be accessible to all who need it in order to ensure justice is available to all and not just the rich. He voted against Tory amendments to the Legal Aid bill that were designed to make legal aid less accessible to ordinary people.

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    SOURCES

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Corbyn

    https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/letters/jermey-corbyn-antisemitism-jews-labour-australia-cricket-a8274151.html

    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/corbyn-trump-iran-crisis-tensions-nuclear-deal-us-tanker-seized-oil-a9013656.html

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/feb/03/shami-chakrabarti-defends-jeremy-corbyn-venezuela-remarks

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/nl2qeuzuh2270mr/Corbyn%20voting%20record%20290819.xlsx?dl=0

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/19/labour-commits-to-total-ban-on-keeping-monkeys-as-pets

     

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