Choose Corbyn or economic ruin

ETON-EDUCATED millionaire Boris Johnson was recently spotted furiously waving a kipper on stage while trying to make a point about how the Isle of Man’s fishing industry would be free of pesky European Union rules.

Except that the island is neither a part of the EU nor indeed the United Kingdom; it is a crown dependency with an independent parliament, whose inhabitants are British citizens. He could be our next prime minister thanks to 0.35% of the electorate, just a hundred or so thousand members.

Gleefully playing to the usual Conservative profile of older, mostly wealthy supporters, Johnson announced tax cuts for already well-off individuals and megabucks corporations. If you would like to know more about Johnson’s economic competence, I would advise you to read up on the Garden Bridge fiasco. He also wants a Tory Brexit at any cost, even preparing to shrug his shoulders at the loss of many tens of thousands of jobs. He is the quintessential candidate of the contemptuous 1%.

We are in desperate need of an efficient and proactive counterbalance, representing working-class people and their needs, reviving hope in forgotten communities. Labour could secure a landslide against Boris and sweep away the Conservatives after nine tortuous years of political austerity.

However, if the party is to do this successfully it must offer a radical departure from ideological cuts, and ambitiously invest in stimulating the economy organically, through projects such as building more social housing. It must also be prepared to protect jobs via nationalisation, and stimulate the economy via employment-boosting projects like additional sustainable social housing. This may be a challenging list, but I believe Jeremy Corbyn is the person to deliver the change we are desperate for. The choice is Corbyn or economic ruin and further inequality.

Daniel Pitt Mountain Ash