Movement to the left?
Jeremy Corbyn surged to a stunning victory on Saturday to win the leadership of the UK’s main opposition Labour Party, in a triumph that reflected broader anti-austerity winds sweeping Europe. The hard-left leader, whose odds of winning were 100/1 just four months ago, swept to victory in the first round of the contest with 251,417 votes or 59.5 percent of the ballots cast. Cheers and applause erupted in Westminster Hall in London at the announcement, with his delighted supporters chanting, “Jez we did!” Corbyn thanked everyone who took part in “this huge democratic exercise” which he says has shown Labour to be “passionate, democratic, diverse, united and determined in our quest for a decent and better society”, according to the BBC. The newly-elected leader also condemned the UK’s “grotesque levels of inequality” and “unfair welfare system” in his victory speech to party members in the UK capital. Corbyn a proponent of higher taxes and more public spending, is steadfastly opposed to the austerity programme of Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron. The veteran campaigner, 66, called for Britain’s Conservative government to show more “compassion” in dealing with the Syrian refugee crisis and said he would attend a demonstration planned in London later on Saturday.…
