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festivals 2016

Fuck Coldplay, Go Watch Jeremy Corbyn Perform at Glastonbury

Billy Bragg has invited the Labour leader to speak, and here's how you can go see him.
Emma Garland
London, GB

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been booked to talk at this year's Glastonbury Festival. In keeping with the festival's tradition of fusing pop and politics, which brought The Dalai Lama and Pussy Riot to the event last year, Corbyn and shadow chancellor John McDonnell will speak at the Left Field stage on behalf of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, following an invitation from Billy Bragg.

Caroline Lucas aside, there is no politician more "Glastonbury" than Jeremy Corbyn – and with Muse, Coldplay, and Adele set to headline, he's arguably one of the most exciting British acts on the bill. You can imagine him squelching around Shangri La in a pair of £3 emergency wellies, sampling the all-vegan food carts, and swinging by the healing fields to get his chakras realigned.

Annoncering

Announcing the news via the Glastonbury website, Bragg wrote: "The election of Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader has galvanised a new generation of activists and this year at Left Field and we aim to give them a platform to discuss issues around social justice, the economy, gender and the possibilities for genuine change under a Corbyn government."

With the results of the EU referendum due to be declared during the festival, Bragg added: "We'll be trying to make sense of what the outcome means for Britain and its people. Whether we vote to leave or remain, the issue of how we respond to those who come to our continent seeking asylum will not go away and we'll be addressing the issue of our responsibilities to those who come seeking our help."

Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis is equally enthusiastic about the decision, saying: "The worker’s beer company and myself started the Left Field tent, following our tradition of campaigning for CND and helping the miners who were totally destroyed by Maggie [Thatcher] in the eighties. And before that there was the huge surge of interest in the green movement’s efforts to clean up our country when the eco warriors arrived here in all their glory in the seventies."

A spokesman for Jeremy Corbyn told The Mirror: "Jeremy has long been a fan of Glastonbury, and is looking forward to attending as a guest of the CND and the festival organisers."

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