I MET Jeremy Corbyn briefly at a small filming event he was attending. I didn’t realise that he was going to be there so when he arrived I was surprised.
The first thing that I noticed about him was his calm, relaxed manner. His manners were impeccable and he certainly didn’t fill the room with a big ego, like many other politicians.
One thing was clear. It wasn’t about him, it was about the public. He wanted to hear their voices. Not just to listen but to actually hear, because there is a vast difference between the two.
We sat in a circle all together. Jeremy didn’t ask for special treatment, he sat with us as an equal.
He spoke to various members of the public. Trade unionists, students, people actively involved within their communities, campaigners like myself and people who believed in what Jeremy can deliver.
What struck me straight away was how knowledgeable he was. He didn’t have an assistant to ask if he got stuck with a question, nor would he have needed one.
He has immense knowledge of the everyday life and struggles of normal people. He showed compassion. Some of the stories were heart-wrenching. The suffering that people are enduring under the Tory regime was very clear to see. He took a note of everything, he listened and he cared.
He was in no rush to leave and he made sure that he spent the time to speak to everyone who wanted to speak to him afterwards. That in itself spoke volumes to me. It’s rare that you see a leader of a political party acting like this these days.
Jeremy is important to me because he is the voice of the working class. He speaks for the people who think that they are worthless, for the sick and disabled, for those who are sanctioned by the DWP, while understanding what it is like for them and not just paying them lip service.
He wants to halt the privatisation of the NHS, stop the awful DWP regime of sanctioning, build social housing not affordable housing that no-one can afford.
He wants to ensure that every child gets a good school education and then is able to go on to further education and university without having to take out a massive loan. He wants to nationalise the railways, among other things.
His opponents will tell you that he can’t do this, it’s unachievable, that we need austerity, that we need to keep putting big business first, that he’s a dreamer.
They don’t like Jeremy’s ideas. It threatens their system, it’s quite simply scared them. They didn’t foresee how popular he would be. But he can change things, and deep down they know this. His supporters know this.
As an active campaigner, I’ve had enough of seeing the poorest and most vulnerable suffer. It’s unfair, and the poor should not continue to be scapegoated for this Tory government’s plans.
So I look to Jeremy, as thousands of others do, as the person to help us. To start making the positive changes that are needed.
As I said to him that wet afternoon: “We could sit here all afternoon talking about all the wrongs inflicted by the Tory Party towards the working class, but ultimately it all boils down to one thing. What class you are. You see this, and you are our only answer. We have faith in you and your abilities. We know that you can do it.”
Charlotte Hughes is a grassroots activist and anti-poverty campaigner.