Grime4Corbyn: Stormzy, Kano and Akala among artists backing Labour in election
‘They offer an urgent alternative to the destructive policies of the Conservatives,’ open letter reads
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Your support makes all the difference.Artists, MCs and rappers including Stormzy, Kano, Akala and Professor Green have signed an open letter in support of Labour and put together by the resurfaced Grime4Corbyn movement.
The letter urges voters to back Labour as “they offer an urgent alternative to the destructive policies of the Conservatives” and an end to austerity.
“Ending austerity will, for the first time in many of our lifetimes, use the taxes we all already pay into, to reinvest in the housing, youth clubs, community groups and cultural centres being destroyed by the current government,” the letter declares.
“These spaces made many of us who we are today, and while we don’t rely on them like we used to, we know how important they will be for the next generation. It is only by restoring them that our communities can take charge of our own destinies, and build our own solutions to the problems we face.”
The letter, which was published in The Guardian, continues: “To deny from our own, now quite comfortable places, that a Labour government would improve the lives of millions would betray the communities we come from. The opportunity for people-led change can be made possible under a Jeremy Corbyn Labour government. End austerity, rebuild our communities and take back the means to change our lives for the better.”
Other signers of the letter include Katy B, Lowkey, Charlie Sloth, Nadine Shah, Shura and Martyn Ware of The Human League.
On Instagram, Stormzy further encouraged his followers to vote for Labour in December’s general election.
He wrote that he believed Boris Johnson to be a “sinister man” with a “long record of lying and policies that have absolutely no regard for the people that our government should be committed to helping and empowering”.
He also declared that it would be “criminally dangerous” to elect Johnson, before referencing his history of racist statements.
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A Labour supporter, @bloonface, claimed on Twitter in a viral thread that Stormzy's Instagram message led to a surge in visitors to the government voter registration site, with 366,000 people registering yesterday (25 November) alone.
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