Jeremy Corbyn has ‘5 Demands’ and he wants us all to start shouting about them

Last year the Jeremy Corbyn-founded Peace and Justice Project launched its 5 Demands. These are five key policies that have risen up as popular demands for our country’s progressive movements as solutions to the challenges we face. Now, it’s taking the next step to bring these policies to the masses.

The Peace and Justice Project: a conference of ‘5 Demands’

Next month it will host a conference on these 5 Demands – and how society can win them. From climate breakdown to an overstretched NHS and from a failing economy to conflicts around the world, you can join Jeremy Corbyn and voices from across the movement for what the Peace and Justice Project calls an “empowering and educational series of discussions”.

The event will be held on Saturday 13 April at Hamilton House in Central London. It starts at 10am with panels on the 5 Demands:

• A Payrise for All.
• Green New Deal with Public Ownership.
• Housing for All.
• Tax the Rich to Save the NHS.
• Welcome Refugees in A World Free from War.

The Peace and Justice Project said:

It is clear that we need bold policies to fix our economy and make it work for the many, not the few, but these radical yet necessary ideas have been shut out from mainstream debate.

Together, we can place them at the forefront of our political thinking.

5 Demands: this should be basic stuff

The group’s 5 Demands are as follows:

A real payrise for all

After years of real-term wage cuts, workers up and down the country are choosing between feeding their children or heating their homes, from nurses and teachers to rail workers and posties, these past few months have seen record levels of industrial action in the UK.

Everyone has a right to live and work with dignity. That means giving nurses, teachers and public sector workers an above-inflation pay rise, implementing a minimum wage of £15 per hour, banning zero-hours contracts and reversing cruel benefit sanctions.

Green New Deal

As millions struggle to pay their energy bills, fossil fuel giants are taking home record profits. Private profiteering is plunging people into poverty and destroying our planet. Alongside water, rail and mail, it’s time we put energy back where it belongs: in public hands.

Democratic public ownership will empower communities, bring prices down and kickstart a Green New Deal that invests in sustainable energy.

Housing for the many

On average, British renters spend 30% of their income on rent. Over one million households are waiting for council and social homes, whilst quarter of a million people are homeless. Housing is a human right, not a commodity – everyone deserves a decent, safe, warm and affordable place to live.

We need an immediate rent freeze and reduction, an end to no-fault evictions and an urgent mass council home building programme.

Tax the rich to save the NHS

After years of austerity and privatisation, our NHS is on its knees. It’s time to end outsourcing, invest in a fully public system of universal healthcare and build a National Care Service.

The government says there’s no more money for our NHS – but they’re wrong. We can give our public services the money they need by introducing a wealth tax, raising income tax on the top 5% of earners and making corporations pay their fair share.

Welcome refugees and a world free from war

Refugees are being scapegoated for an economic crisis they didn’t create. We must work towards a world of peace, free from nuclear weapons where conflicts are resolved through diplomacy and negotiation. We need a humane migration system based on dignity, compassion and care, which gives asylum seekers the right to work, healthcare and housing.

The refugees of today are our doctors, teachers and neighbours of tomorrow.

Get involved

At the 5 Demands conference, speakers include:

• Fran Heathcote, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union.
• Steve Smith, CEO of Care 4 Calais.
• Pete Apps, editor, Inside Housing.
• Andrew Fisher, former policy advisor and commentator.
• Louise Regan, chair of Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and National Education Union (NEU) executive.
• Ian Allinson, author Workers Can Win.
• Holly Turner, nurse and co-founder NHS Workers Say No.
• Tyrone Scott, War on Want.
• Pamela Fitzpatrick, co-director Peace & Justice Project.

You can find out more about the 5 Demands conference here. Or, you can book tickets here. Please share the event with your friends and colleagues using #5Demands.

Featured image via Middle East Eye – YouTube