jeremy corbyn

I don't think for one moment that Jeremy Corbyn is perfect. I do, however, strongly believe that what he brings to politics is not only different and refreshing, but also really necessary: an unspun, humble, earnest but humane approach and a conviction – lived and evidenced through thirty years of parliamentary commitment – that a fairer society lies at the heart of Labour's reason to exist as a political movement.

I also don't buy the 'unelectable', 'disaster' and other doom-laden tags heaped upon him by his opponents. If you are going to be a political leader, you have to set out a vision and lead your members, and the electorate as a whole, towards understanding and embracing that vision. If the vision were already common currency or in place, your role would be obsolete. Some of Jeremy Corbyn's policies, views and opinions may turn out to jar with mine, and may not stand up to scrutiny forever, but he would be hard pushed to be a more bitter and devastating disappointment and disaster for Labour than Blair.

Being a progressive movement is not about making yourself 'electable' at any price and tailoring your values and politics to what the majority of a media-saturated and generally fatigued electorate already think they know. It is about setting out a direction you want your country and your society to go in and then doing all the hard and frustrating and also sometimes inspiring and rewarding work to take people with you.

They said women can't have the vote. They said there will never be an African American President. They said we'll never get equal marriage. If your starting point is "we can't" then failure is inescapable. If your starting point is "we can" then you don't have a foregone conclusion, but you do have a chance of change and success.

Which is why today I have voted for Jeremy Corbyn.#JezWeCan


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