A lawyer-turned campaigner’s viral video blows apart the smears about Corbyn’s policies [VIDEO]

A lawyer-turned-campaigner has released a video about Labour’s policies for the general election. And its no-nonsense approach has perfectly debunked any notion that there’s nothing to like about what Jeremy Corbyn’s party would do, if it won on 8 June.

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Peter Stefanovic is becoming well known on social media. He is getting a reputation for producing video shorts that cut through mainstream media bias; ones that tell the viewer the whole story on political and social issues. And in his latest video, he explains why Corbyn’s policies are so important:

A shameful record

And figures back-up Stefanovic’s claims about the last seven-years of Conservative rule:

• Four million children are now living in poverty, a figure which rose by 100,000 in 2015/16. 67% are from working families.
• Food bank usage has risen, Over half a million people were reliant on just the Trussell Trust for food packages in the six months to the end of September 2016.
• In two reports the UN heavily criticised the Tories for “grave” and “systematic” violations of disabled people’s human rights. The government, meanwhile, has severely cut their benefits.
• National debt has increased by more than 50%.
• Homelessness rose by 54% between 2010 and 2016.
• The NHS has seen a real terms cut in the amount of money given to it per patient. Meanwhile the amount of NHS money paid to ‘independent’ companies had more than doubled to over £8bn a year by 2016.
• The government has cut the number of people getting social care by 26%. And it has cut the equivalent of almost £50m from children’s mental health services.

But Labour suffered losses at the local elections on Thursday 4 May. And Stefanovic thinks this may be, in part, due to a biased media. He told The Canary:

Media bias against Jeremy Corbyn shows just how politicised reporting has become. A biased right wing media and its political masters know that if the incredible policies which the Labour Party are putting forward, which I describe in my film, reach mainstream – the establishment is quite simply done for!

Bias, bias, everywhere

And a study by the The New Statesman appears to confirm this bias. It conducted analysis into the broadcasting of the EU referendum campaign by looking at the main evening bulletins on Channel 5 (5pm), Channel 4 (7pm), and BBC, ITV, and Sky News (10pm). It found that 71.2% of the media’s political sources were from the Conservative Party. This compares to just 18.4% from Labour. But while this study only concerned the EU vote, other analysis shows the broader bias against Corbyn.

For example, a report[pdf] by the London School of Economics claimed the press turned into an “attack dog” against Corbyn. It said 57% of articles in the press were critical of Corbyn, 74% distorted his views, and 56% did not give the Labour leader a voice at all. And if this wasn’t bad enough, Reporters Without Borders recently said the UK is now 40th in its Press Freedom Index.

But there is an alternative

With less than five weeks until the country votes in the general election, it is undeniable that Labour still has ground to make up. So the party will need the likes of Stefanovic, and other alternative media outlets to counter the seeming bias against Labour and Corbyn. Because, as with every other political party, the public deserve to hear a rounded appraisal of their policies before casting their vote on 8 June.

Get Involved!

– Register to vote in the 8 June general election. If you don’t have a national insurance number, a 5 minute phone call on 0300 200 3500 will get it sent to you in ten days.

– Discuss the key policy issues with family members, colleagues and neighbours. And organise! Join (and participate in the activities of) a union, an activist group, and/or a political party.

– Also read more Canary articles on the 2017 general election.

Featured image via Peter Stefanovic/Flickr