Photos: Giulia Spadafora
It has been an eventful few months for columnist and author Owen Jones. After years of writing about the impact of the Tories being in power for 14 years, it seems that we’re on the brink of a Labour government for the first time in a generation. But the strong supporter of Jeremy Corbyn is now so disillusioned with Labour under Keir Starmer that he has quit the party and is now campaigning for left-wing candidates from different parties across the country.
The Guardian columnist and author of bestselling books CHAVS: The Demonisation of the Working Classes and The Establishment now has a large platform on social media and often goes on TV to argue for a left-wing perspective.
At a sold-out event just after the general election was called, Cable journalist Priyanka Raval chatted to Owen about what brought him to abandon the party that is an important part of his family’s DNA, Starmer’s inability to stick to his word and his failure to call for a ceasefire to stop the bombing of Gaza by Isreal.
Priyanka and Owen also chatted about his new campaign, We Deserve Better, to back independent, Green and Labour candidates that he agrees with. One of these is Carla Denyer, the co-leader of the Green Party who is aiming to unseat Labour’s Thangam Debbonaire in Bristol Central.
With a potential Labour landslide on the cards, Owen talks about what the role of the left should be in holding Starmer’s government to account if they secure a whopping majority, and the current state of mainstream media and new outlets that are providing an alternative, such as Novara Media.
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