Saudi FM calls Indian, Pakistani counterparts to discuss developments    Al Hilal thrash Gwangju to reach AFC Champions League Elite semi-finals    Saudi Arabia cracks down on fraudulent Hajj campaigns, urges pilgrims to use official channels    Nammos Amala Resort to open soon with Saudi-Greek designs    Saudi Arabia completes 674 Vision 2030 initiatives, achieves 93% of KPIs as ninth-year milestone marked    Literature Commission inaugurates Saudi Pavilion at Muscat Book Fair    Saudi Minister of Culture holds talks with his Costa Rican counterpart in Jeddah    Alkhorayef praises advancements in Al-Kharj food industries sector    MHRSD: 80% of recruitment offices are non-compliant with regulations    At least 50 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza    Teenage girl killed in French school stabbing attack    Trump claims meeting with China after Beijing denies any trade negotiations    GACA chief chairs 16th meeting of the Steering Committee on aviation's strategy    Saudi Theater Commission launches its Work and Learn Project in UK    The season has begun — and one comment shook us all    Jennifer Lopez dazzles in Jeddah with a Formula 1 performance    Saudi Arabia open to expanded 64-team World Cup in 2034, says sports minister    Average life expectancy in Saudi Arabia rises to78.8 years    Film Commission launches 'Cinema' initiative to enhance content    Famed Philippine film star Nora Aunor dies at 71    Pakistani star's Bollywood return excites fans and riles far right    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



No-hoper to crowd-puller, Labor's Corbyn gains ground
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 02 - 06 - 2017

FOR a radical socialist written off by many as a no-hoper leading Britain's Labor Party to its worst ever election defeat on June 8, Jeremy Corbyn is pulling in big crowds.
[caption id="attachment_149215" align="alignright" width="300"] Corbyn (center) addresses supports during a general election campaign rally in Reading, west of London.[/caption]
Corbyn, a 68-year-old peace campaigner, has been speaking at modestly-attended fringe rallies and demonstrations for decades. But he now seems to have found a wider audience.
In a leisure center car park on the outskirts of Reading, 40 miles from London, over a thousand people gathered in the middle of a working day, some leaving behind their desk jobs and even climbing trees to catch a glimpse of Corbyn. "He's a normal person, which I think resonates," said Trish Whitham, a former Green Party voter who had travelled around an hour to get to a Corbyn rally — the first she had ever attended. "People have complained about him being a bit scruffy so he's smartened up a bit, but he's never going to be a media person, he's never going to conform to what the media wants him to be - which is another thing I really like him for."
Conservative Prime Minister Theresa May called a snap election last month when she was riding high in opinion polls, hoping for a landslide win on a par with the era-defining victories of Margaret Thatcher in 1983 and Tony Blair in 1997.
But her party's lead has shrunk from more than 20 percentage points to as little as 3 points, according to a YouGov opinion poll, though all major polls put the Conservatives in the lead.
Another who attended Corbyn's rally said he was curious about a politician who appeared genuine. "I heard they were coming and I'd seen on the news how great some of his rallies were so I thought I'd come down and check it out," said Jason Guy, a 28-year-old insurance worker who joined Labour a week ago after reading Corbyn's manifesto.
"He doesn't seem like other politicians where it's just full of fluff and nothing, and constant regurgitation of slogans; he seems to actually mean what he says."
Left turn
After losing a second successive national election in 2015 Labor took a sharp turn to the political left. They picked Corbyn, a rank outsider who just scraped enough nominations to make it into the contest, to lead the party in a new direction.
Corbyn's drive to align Labour more closely with its socialist roots and eschew the pro-business centrist platform championed by three-time election winner Blair has split the party.
By attracting thousands of zealous young new supporters and re-engaging hard-left activists who had abandoned the party under Blair, Corbyn created a power base that helped him survive an attempted coup by party moderates last year.
"We're very invested in Jeremy Corbyn," said Bethany Telling, a student who, with the help of her friend Alex Watson, resurrected her university's Labor Society after Corbyn took control of the party. "It's nice to see someone coming out with proper ‘left' views," said Watson, a 23-year old chemistry student.
His manifesto for renationalization, higher public spending and tax rises for the rich has also gone down well with a wide pool of voters, while May has upset core supporters with a plan to make the elderly pay more towards their care.
"Support for Labor among younger voters has gone up, and gone up dramatically, but then the crucial question is whether these young people will come out to vote," said John Curtice, a leading psephologist who is president of the British Polling Council.
Turnout among young voters is modeled differently by each polling firm, which helped account for the wide range of different estimates on the Conservatives' polling lead - currently between 3 and 12 percentage points.
Polls consistently show Corbyn's Labor is favored by younger voters over the Conservatives, whereas the over 50s and pensioners have a strong preference for the Conservatives. YouGov in April called age the "new dividing line in British politics".
Similar divisions were seen ahead of last year's referendum on EU membership, with the young more in favor of remaining in the bloc. The elderly vote helped swing that referendum 52 to 48 percent in favor of Brexit.
Insurgent campaign
In dozens of rallies across the country, Corbyn has drawn thousands but the scale of the meetings has gone largely unreported by national media which has been more focused on the margin of victory his rival might achieve.
Echoing elements of US President Donald Trump's election-winning rhetoric, Corbyn and senior Labor figures have leveraged strong support on social media by criticizing traditional media outlets and stirring an anti-establishment mood.
A momentum behind Corbyn had been building ever since election broadcasting regulations, which ensure party leaders get airtime, came into force a month ago. "We're demonstrating the energy and the excitement behind the campaign and behind the manifesto," the source said. "The size has been growing — we've been seeing remarkable things."
The crowd in Reading, a staunchly Conservative town close to May's own parliamentary seat, was a mix of local Labor activists, trade union volunteers and curious members of the public who had seen the rally advertised on social media.
"He's highlighting a lot of issues that are so blatantly around in society — I'm a social worker and I see a lot of stuff all the time — and he is actually trying to make a difference," said Eloise, a social worker.
"There are a lot of people who are suffering in this country, and this is meant to be a first-world country. It's unbelievable, the divide," she said. — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.