Jeremy Corbyn is 70 years old today. He was born on May 26th, 1949, and has spent his life in politics, rather than in employment in business, industry, services or the professions. His education culminated in two E-grade passes as A-level, and although he began a course in Trade Union Studies at North London Polytechnic, he left after a year without gaining a degree. He worked as a Trade Union organizer before being elected as MP for Islington North in 1983.
Always on the far left, he joined the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament in 1966 aged 16, and became its vice-president. He opposed Britain's liberation of the Falkland Islands in 1982, describing it as a "Tory plot." Also in 1982, he opposed the Labour Party's expulsion of the Trotskyist and entryist group, Militant Tendency. He favours the UK leaving NATO, and "would prefer Britain to be a republic" rather than a monarchy. He supports a "united Ireland" and has appeared alongside IRA terrorists, one of whom he invited into Parliament just weeks after the Brighton bombing.
He is a member of the Palestinian Solidarity Group, and has shared platforms with those who call for Israel and its population to be eliminated. He was at a ceremony to commemorate the Palestinian murderers of Israeli athletes at Munich, reportedly laying a wreath. He hosted a meeting at which Israel's actions in Gaza were likened to the Nazi holocaust. He contributed a forward to a book that claimed Jewish control of finance enabled them to influence world events, and has himself called for an investigation into "Israeli" influence in UK politics. He describes the terrorist organizations Hezbollah and Hamas as "his friends."
He now supports renationalization of leading industries, including energy, and advocates raising the youth minimum wage to the adult level. He has vast spending plans, including the abolition of student fees and student debt, to be financed by raising taxes, increasing National Insurance, and by inflationary increases in the money supply. He lauds what has been achieved in Venezuela.
His career and his attitudes have given rise to a popular joke:
A Communist, a terrorist supporter, and an anti-Semite walked into a bar. The bartender said, "Hi, Jeremy. What can I get you?”
He himself may be a joke, but one in very questionable taste, and he is by no means popular.