Grime4Corbyn: Stormzy, Kano and Akala among artists backing Labour in election

Adam White
Rex Features
Rex Features

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.

View this post on Instagram

It is very very very important that every single person who reads this goes and registers to vote. The deadline is 23:59 tomorrow, the link is in my bio. Do not just scroll past, don’t sit there and think “my one little vote ain’t gonna do anything”—your vote is CRUCIAL. Your “one little vote” can quite literally tip the scale for what will be the most important election of our generation. Your “one little vote” means everything, there were millions of people who thought there “one little vote” didn’t mean shit and now Trump is the president of America and we are leaving the EU. So your vote really does count. I will be registering to vote and I will be voting for Jeremy Corbyn. There are several reasons as to why I’m voting for him – I would be here all day if I began to list them...but in my 26 years of life I have never trusted politicians or relied on them to be the bearers of hope and righteous people that we’ve needed them to be. And for me, he is the first man in a position of power who is committed to giving the power back to the people and helping those who need a helping hand from the government the most. I think Boris Johnson is 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. I also believe it is criminally dangerous to give the most powerful role in the country to a man who has said that the sight of a “bunch of black kids” makes him “turn a hair”, compared women in burqas to letterboxes and referred to blacks people as “picaninnies” with “watermelon smiles”. I think it’s extremely dangerous to have a man with those views as the sole leader of our country. These are all MY views, I don’t care for your love or hate for them. I just think it’s important that we all register and go out and vote. And I think it’s important that we use our vote to make sure that the person who runs our country for the next 4 years is someone committed to doing what is right. GO OUT AND DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH AND TRY YOUR BEST TO LEARN AND UNDERSTAND WHO IT IS YOU’RE VOTING FOR. THE LINK TO REGISTER TO VOTE IS IN MY BIO. 💪🏿

A post shared by @ stormzy on Nov 25, 2019 at 11:10am PST

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.

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.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest stories