We can all help to build Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign, to see a strong alternative voice to war and austerity gets the hearing it deserves

Left Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn, who has been nominated to stand in the Labour leadership campaign, is also the chair of the Stop the War Coalition.

He has been a supporter since we began back in 2001, has spoken on virtually all of our demonstrations big and small, and has been a consistent anti-war voice in parliament.

He was part of the major Labour rebellion against the Iraq war in 2003, and was opposed to the intervention in Syria in 2013.

All of this is great news for Stop the War supporters who can now back him as a principled anti-war and anti-austerity candidate in a contest which was set, until the last minute, to be between three candidates who all espoused a similar message – none of it anti-war.

But Jeremy’s candidacy takes on a much wider significance, because it can be part of rebuilding a left committed to social movements which can provide the antidote to a government committed to pro-war policies and to cutting welfare, including the benefits of some of the poorest in society.

A mass campaign in support of Jeremy should involve meetings in every town and city which echo the policies which he has always followed: peace and justice for all, an end to widening inequality, and opposition to cuts in welfare, rather than warfare.

Such a campaign would galvanise large numbers of people who have previously been involved in anti war and other campaigns, as well as many young people who have protested against austerity in recent weeks.

The Corbyn candidacy can have the effect of unifying many of the campaigns, and of inserting a clear left voice into the debate about how best to oppose government policies on these questions.

There is a new movement growing against austerity, determined to oppose the new government’s policies.

Stop the War is part of the People’s Assembly which has called the march against austerity on Saturday 20 June. This promises to be a huge mass protest that can lead to a new stage in the anti-austerity movement.

Jeremy Corbyn will be a key speaker on the demonstration. We urge all Stop the War supporters to attend. Some will also be in a position to vote for Jeremy, as Labour Party members or supporters, or as trade union members.

Whether we are or not, however, we can all help to build his campaign, to make sure that a strong alternative voice to war and austerity gets the hearing it deserves. Jeremy’s candidacy for the Labour leadership can only make the movements stronger.