Piers Corbyn
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Piers Richard Corbyn (born 10 March 1947) is a British weather forecaster,
anti-vaccine Anti-vaccine activism, which collectively constitutes the "anti-vax" movement, is a set of organized activities expressing opposition to vaccination, and these Social networking, collaborating networks have often sought to increase vaccine h ...
activist, conspiracy theorist, and former politician. Corbyn was born in
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
and raised in
Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...
wherein he attended
Adams' Grammar School Haberdashers' Adams Grammar School is a selective state grammar school for high-achieving boys and girls aged 11–18 with boarding for boys, located in Newport, Shropshire, offering day and boarding education. As of 2024, boarding fees are £14, ...
. He was awarded a first class BSc degree in
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
from
Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
in 1968 and a
postgraduate Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor' ...
MSc in
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...
from Queen Mary College, University of London, in 1981. Corbyn was a member of the Labour Party and served as a councillor in the
London Borough of Southwark The London Borough of Southwark ( ) in South London forms part of Inner London and is connected by bridges across the River Thames to the City of London and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council ...
from 1986 to 1990. He is the elder brother of former Labour Party leader
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
, leaving Labour in 2003 due to his opposition to the
Iraq War The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with 2003 invasion of Iraq, the invasion by a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition, which ...
. Corbyn ran a weather monitoring company called WeatherAction in the 1990s and gained some prominence in the media for his predictions and, later more so, for his rejection of the
scientific consensus on climate change There is a nearly unanimous scientific consensus that the Earth has been consistently warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution, that the rate of recent warming is largely unprecedented, and that this warming is mainly the result o ...
. Throughout the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, he was a prominent proponent of
conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...
. He described
SARS-CoV-2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the respiratory illness responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had the Novel coronavirus, provisional nam ...
as a "hoax", frequently campaigned against lockdowns and against COVID-19 vaccines, and described
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...
s as dangerous. Corbyn was arrested on several occasions for taking part in protests against public health laws, and on suspicion of encouraging people to burn down the offices of members of
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.


Early life and education

Piers Corbyn was born on 10 March 1947 in
Chippenham Chippenham is a market town in north-west Wiltshire, England. It lies north-east of Bath, Somerset, Bath, west of London and is near the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town was established on a crossing of the River Avon, ...
,
Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
. He grew up at Yew Tree Manor in Pave Lane, in
Newport, Shropshire Newport is a market town and Civil parishes in Shropshire, civil parish in the borough of Telford and Wrekin in Shropshire, England. It lies north-east of Telford, west of Stafford, and is near the Shropshire-Staffordshire border. The 2001 Ce ...
, a 17th-century
country house image:Blenheim - Blenheim Palace - 20210417125239.jpg, 300px, Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhou ...
which was once part of the
Duke of Sutherland Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made ...
's Lilleshall estate. He began recording weather and
climate pattern Climate variability includes all the variations in the climate that last longer than individual weather events, whereas the term climate change only refers to those variations that persist for a longer period of time, typically decades or more ...
s in 1962 at the age of fifteen, constructing his own observation equipment. He attended Castle House School and
Adams' Grammar School Haberdashers' Adams Grammar School is a selective state grammar school for high-achieving boys and girls aged 11–18 with boarding for boys, located in Newport, Shropshire, offering day and boarding education. As of 2024, boarding fees are £14, ...
in Newport, Shropshire.


Higher education

At 18, he went to
Imperial College London Imperial College London, also known as Imperial, is a Public university, public research university in London, England. Its history began with Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, who envisioned a Al ...
, being awarded a first class BSc degree in
physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...
in 1968. He commenced postgraduate research there into superconductivity, but then went into student representation and politics for some years. In 1979, he returned to postgraduate study at Queen Mary College, University of London, being awarded an MSc in
astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline, James Keeler, said, astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the ...
in 1981. While he was an undergraduate, an article by Corbyn was published in the
Royal Meteorological Society The Royal Meteorological Society is an organization that promotes academic and public engagement in weather and climate science. Fellows of the Society must possess relevant qualifications, but Members can be lay enthusiasts. It publishes vari ...
's magazine ''Weather'' discussing a brine barometer and an electrical thermometer.


Student representative

In 1969, Corbyn became the first president of the Imperial College Students' Union to be directly elected by the student body. As president until 1970, Corbyn was successful in establishing a sabbatical union president, enabling the elected student leader to be registered at the college without having to study or pay fees (in fact they received a grant from the college and union). Corbyn set up a short-lived Imperial College Representative Council, seats on which were distributed between members of the college on the basis of their numbers, a system that almost gave students a majority. The ICAUT, a staff union, refused to cooperate with this student-led initiative. Although this particular council did not survive, increased student representation on college boards and committees became a lasting success of Corbyn's time as ICU president. Corbyn, together with the rector at the time, Lord Penney, received the Queen when she opened a new administrative building in 1969. During the visit Corbyn petitioned the Queen in front of 900 people, asking for students to be given greater say in the governance of the college.


Career


Housing-rights activist

Corbyn was a housing and squatters' rights activist in the north
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
area of the
City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a London borough with City status in the United Kingdom, city status in Greater London, England. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It contains a large par ...
in the mid-1970s. He helped organise the All London Squatters Federation, the Squatters Union and the Squatters Action Council (SAC). Although they issued publications and mounted protests, in the assessment of the Metropolitan Police Special Branch the "real activists" in these organisations, Corbyn among them, were "limited to not more than about a dozen persons" and had "very little influence on squatters". In
1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...
, he stood for election to
Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London. The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. Full council meetings ...
in
Harrow Road Harrow Road is an ancient route in London, North West London which runs from Paddington in a northwesterly direction towards Harrow, London, Harrow. It is also the name given to the immediate surrounding area of Queen's Park, London, Queens Par ...
ward as a Squatters and Tenants candidate; in
1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...
, he and a colleague stood in Harrow Road as Decent Housing candidates.Harrow Road ward
election results
In the 1977 GLC election he was the
International Marxist Group The International Marxist Group (IMG) was a Trotskyist group in Britain between 1968 and 1982. It was the British Section of the Fourth International. It had around 1,000 members and supporters in the late 1970s. In 1980, it had 682 members; by ...
candidate for Lambeth Central. He and some of the squatters in Elgin Avenue were, as a result of their campaign which included the building of barricades against eviction, rehoused by the GLC in 1975 spread out between Westminster and other London boroughs to discourage the risk of further united action. He later moved from that rehousing in Rust Square to the Alvey Estate in Southwark where he became a leader of the tenants association.


Party politics

Corbyn was a member of the Labour Party. He was elected as a Labour councillor for Burgess Ward of the Southwark London Borough Council in 1986 but lost in
1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...
. In 1987, Corbyn was arrested for the defacing of an
SDP–Liberal Alliance The SDP–Liberal Alliance was a centrist and social liberal political alliance, political and electoral alliance in the United Kingdom. Formed by the Social Democratic Party (UK), Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Liberal Party (UK), Libera ...
poster, but cautioned and released without charge. For seven years he was an unpaid campaigns organiser in Southwark and Bermondsey, being thanked by
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
in 1998 at Downing Street. Corbyn left the Labour Party in 2002 in the run up to the
invasion of Iraq An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives ...
, and stood as an independent candidate in
2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...
and in a 2015 council by-election. According to ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' in September 2017, his attempt to rejoin the Southwark
Constituency Labour Party A constituency Labour Party (CLP) is an organisation of members of the British Labour Party who live in a particular parliamentary constituency. In England and Wales, CLP boundaries coincide with those for UK parliamentary constituencies. In Sc ...
in January 2017 was blocked. His brother,
Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
, was elected MP for
Islington North Islington North is a United Kingdom constituencies, constituency in Greater London established for 1885 United Kingdom general election, the 1885 general election. It has been represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of C ...
in 1983, was re-elected in every following election , and served as Leader of the Labour Party and hence
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
from 2015 to 2020. In August 2015, Corbyn supported his brother's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election, on the basis that he stood for proper debate and accountability, including on climate. On
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
, he urged people to register to vote and back Jeremy Corbyn to lead the Labour Party. In March 2016, Corbyn was among a group of protesters at a Lambeth council meeting who reportedly "screamed abuse in the faces" of party councillors. Corbyn later told the BBC that he personally sought to make his points by talking to people, rather than shouting.


WeatherAction

Following some years of weather prediction as an occupation, he formed WeatherAction, a business, in 1995. WeatherAction is the business through which Corbyn sells his predictions. He has in the past bet on these predictions. His betting attracted much interest in 1990, when his predictions of severe weather were met by a year of the "worst extremes". WeatherAction was formerly listed on the
Alternative Investment Market AIM (formerly the Alternative Investment Market) is a sub-market of the London Stock Exchange that was launched on 19 June 1995 as a replacement to the previous Unlisted Securities Market, Unlisted Securities Market (USM) that had been in opera ...
(AIM) as 'Weather Action Holdings plc' in 1997, and was transferred back to private ownership in 1999, primarily because of sustaining increasing losses and the impact of annual £70,000 costs related to listed status on annual revenues of £250,000. Corbyn reacquired the weather prediction business; the listed shell was taken over by investors and changed its name to '''InternetAction.com''', with the intent of researching potential net-based takeover targets. WeatherAction left the Alternative Investment Market in 1999 after reported losses of £480,000 incurred during its time as a public company; its share price dropped from 79p a share to 24p.


Prediction methods

Corbyn's technique is stated to combine "statistical analysis of over a century of historical weather patterns with clues derived from solar observations." He considers past weather patterns and solar observations and sun-earth magnetic connectivity. However,
meteorological Meteorology is the scientific study of the Earth's atmosphere and short-term atmospheric phenomena (i.e. weather), with a focus on weather forecasting. It has applications in the military, aviation, energy production, transport, agriculture ...
studies show that such influences cause minimal impact on the Earth's
atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gases that envelop an astronomical object, held in place by the gravity of the object. A planet retains an atmosphere when the gravity is great and the temperature of the atmosphere is low. A stellar atmosph ...
.


Scientific review

The only study involving Corbyn's work published in a peer-reviewed journal was in the '' Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics'' (2001). Its investigation was limited to Corbyn's "likely damaging gale periods" predictions for the island of
Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
for the period October 1995 – September 1997. Corbyn's enlisted work (carried out for a consortium of insurance companies) was only for the most likely periods of the strongest winds and specifically not a full forecast to include lesser winds: In a 1999 edition of ''
Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...
'' magazine, researchers Ian Jolliffe and Nils Jolliffe stated of Corbyn's predictions that: "It is unusual for most of the detail to be completely correct, but equally it is rare for nearly everything to be wrong… Some forecasts are clearly very good, and a few are very poor, but the majority fall in the grey area in between, where an optimistic assessor would find merit, but a critical assessor would find fault." In a 2012 article in ''Wired'' titled "The Fraudulent Business of Earthquake and Eruption Prediction", Erik Klemetti, an assistant professor of Geosciences at Ohio's
Denison University Denison University is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...
accused Corbyn of "
cherry-picking Cherry picking, suppressing evidence, or the fallacy of incomplete evidence is the act of pointing to individual cases or data that seem to confirm a particular position while ignoring a significant portion of related and similar cases or data th ...
" and said people who claimed to be able to forecast earthquakes were "faith healers of the geologic community and should be seen as such."


Media coverage

Critics have pointed to inaccurate predictions, such as a white
Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...
in 1989, and "raging weather" in September 1997. WeatherAction predictions were contested by the
Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
in 2008. While he was
Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first directly elected mayor in the United Kingdom. The current ...
,
Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (born 19 June 1964) is a British politician and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He wa ...
repeatedly suggested that Corbyn might be correct in his denial of anthropogenic climate change.


Let London Live

In January 2021, it was announced that Corbyn would stand for his own party, Let London Live, in the
2021 London mayoral election The 2021 London mayoral election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the mayor of London. It was held simultaneously with 2021 London Assembly election, elections for the London Assembly, 2021 United Kingdom local elections, other local elections ...
and
2021 London Assembly election The 2021 London Assembly election was held on 6 May 2021 to elect the members of the London Assembly, alongside the 2021 London mayoral election. The mayoral and Assembly elections were originally to be held on 7 May 2020, but on 13 March 202 ...
. On 19 April, Corbyn told the BBC that if he were to be elected then he would "end lockdown on day one as mayor". He finished 11th with 20,604 votes (0.8%) in the mayoral election, while his party finished 12th on the London-wide list with 15,755 votes. He stood for Let London Live in the 2022 Southwark London Borough Council election. He stood as a candidate in the 2023 Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election for Let London Live; Corbyn finished 11th of 17 candidates, receiving 101 votes (0.3%). Let London Live was deregistered as a political party in November 2023. As an independent he stood in Bermondsey and Old Southwark constituency in the 2024 general election; he received 403 votes (1.1%).


Promotion of conspiracy theories

In 2020, Corbyn was reported by Hope not Hate and the Community Security Trust to have attended a meeting organised by Keep Talking, a conspiracy theory discussion group based in the United Kingdom which invites guest speakers involved in
Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...
.


Climate change denial

Corbyn rejects the
scientific consensus on climate change There is a nearly unanimous scientific consensus that the Earth has been consistently warming since the start of the Industrial Revolution, that the rate of recent warming is largely unprecedented, and that this warming is mainly the result o ...
. He denies that humans play a role in
climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...
, and spreads false and discredited narratives about the issue. He has said that the
media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...
,
Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
and "corrupt scientists" are brainwashing the public as part of a
Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...
-run conspiracy to keep oil prices high. Corbyn has stated his belief that the
anthropogenic Anthropogenic ("human" + "generating") is an adjective that may refer to: * Anthropogeny, the study of the origins of humanity Anthropogenic may also refer to things that have been generated by humans, as follows: * Human impact on the enviro ...
contribution to global warming is minimal, with any increase in temperature due to increased solar activity. In 2009 he attended the
International Conference on Climate Change The International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC) is a climate change denial conference series organized and sponsored by The Heartland Institute which aims to bring together those who "dispute that the science is settled on the causes, con ...
organised by
the Heartland Institute The Heartland Institute is an American conservative and libertarian 501(c)(3) nonprofit public policy think tank known for its rejection of both the scientific consensus on climate change and the negative health impacts of smoking. Founded ...
. Corbyn featured in a Channel 4 documentary ''
The Great Global Warming Swindle ''The Great Global Warming Swindle'' is a 2007 British polemical documentary film directed by Martin Durkin (director), Martin Durkin. The film Climate change denial, denies the Scientific consensus on climate change, scientific consensus about ...
'' in 2007; a scientifically reviewed complaint to
Ofcom The Office of Communications, commonly known as Ofcom, is the government-approved regulatory and competition authority for the broadcasting, internet, telecommunications and mail, postal industries of the United Kingdom. Ofcom has wide-rang ...
noted that he was introduced as 'Dr Piers Corbyn, Climate Forecaster' despite not having a doctorate nor any qualification specifically in
climate science Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...
or environmental science. In a 2016 interview Corbyn suggested that
Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013), was a British stateswoman who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of th ...
endorsed the idea of man-made climate change as a strategy for phasing out the British coal industry and defeating the miners union in the 1984–85 miners' strike. However, there is no evidence that Thatcher used environmental arguments about climate change at the time; her support for climate change policies did not start until later in the 1980s. In 2015,
BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
apologised for an "unfortunate lapse" in a documentary presented by ''
Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily Middle-market newspaper, middle-market Tabloid journalism, tabloid conservative newspaper founded in 1896 and published in London. , it has the List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation, h ...
'' journalist
Quentin Letts Quentin Richard Stephen Letts (born 6 February 1963) is an English journalist and theatre critic. He has written for ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''Daily Mail'', ''Mail on Sunday'', and ''The Oldie''. On 26 February 2019, it was announced that Let ...
, which featured Corbyn in a critique of the Met Office's views on climate change while failing to mention the
scientific consensus Scientific consensus is the generally held judgment, position, and opinion of the majority or the supermajority of scientists in a particular field of study at any particular time. Consensus is achieved through scholarly communication at confer ...
. In March 2016, Corbyn participated in a BBC climate change debate which resulted in several people complaining to the BBC for giving him airtime. He was interviewed by Dutch filmmaker Marijn Poels for his 2017 documentary
feature film A feature film or feature-length film (often abbreviated to feature), also called a theatrical film, is a film (Film, motion picture, "movie" or simply “picture”) with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole present ...
about climate, energy and agriculture, called '' The Uncertainty Has Settled''. In April 2019, Corbyn tweeted about the Swedish environmental activist
Greta Thunberg Greta Tintin Eleonora Ernman Thunberg (; born 3January 2003) is a Swedish climate activist, climate and political activist initially known for challenging world leaders to take immediate action to climate change mitigation, mitigate the effec ...
with an image of her next to a Nazi
swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍, ) is a symbol used in various Eurasian religions and cultures, as well as a few Indigenous peoples of Africa, African and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, American cultures. In the Western world, it is widely rec ...
, describing her as an "ignorant, brainwashed child". In April 2023 Corbyn was removed from an Extinction Rebellion church service in London afer gatecrashing the event and telling environmental activists that man-made climate change "does not exist" and that they were "working for the Devil". The crowd, which had gathered for a service titled "No Faith in Fossil Fuels", began to sing the hymn "Amazing Grace" as he was escorted away.


COVID-19 denial

Corbyn has stated his belief that
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
and the associated ongoing pandemic is a "hoax". On Twitter on 16 March 2020, he tweeted from an account that was later suspended an unfounded conspiracy theory that
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
,
George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...
and others had created the pandemic, that this was to mass vaccinate the world's population, and that vaccines are dangerous. He called the pandemic a "psychological operation to close down the economy in the interests of mega-corporations" on ''Good Morning Britain''; Dr. Hilary Jones described his views as spurious and "extremely dangerous" and hosts
Piers Morgan Piers Stefan Pughe-Morgan (; O'Meara, born 30 March 1965) is an English journalist and media personality. He began his career in 1988 at the tabloid ''The Sun (United Kingdom), The Sun''. In 1994, at the age of 29, he was appointed editor of ...
and Susanna Reid challenged him during the programme.


2020

On 16 May 2020, Corbyn was one of 19 people arrested for refusing to leave and failing to provide details whilst protesting against the UK's
COVID-19 lockdown During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions, particularly lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions), were implemented in numero ...
in
Hyde Park, London Hyde Park is a , historic Listed building#Heritage protection, Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Parks of London, Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington P ...
. On this occasion, he advocated coronavirus-related 5G conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination claims before being arrested. On 30 May, Corbyn attended another protest at Hyde Park, and was again charged with, as described in ''
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'', "contravening coronavirus rules". On 29 August, Corbyn was arrested by the Metropolitan Police near
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...
and warned he would be issued with a fixed penalty notice (FPN) for £10,000, on suspicion of breaking new Health Protection Regulations (2020) for the offence of holding a gathering of more than 30 people in an outdoor place. He appeared alongside conspiracy theorist
David Icke David Vaughan Icke ( ; born 29 April 1952) is an English conspiracy theorist, author and a former Association football, footballer and sports broadcaster. He has written over 20 books, self-published since the mid-1990s, and spoken in more tha ...
and singer
Chico Slimani Yousseph "Chico" Slimani (born 1971) is a Welsh singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2005 series of the talent show ''The X Factor''. In 2006, he had a number one hit on the British cha ...
. Corbyn was fined £10,000 for organising an anti-lockdown rally in Trafalgar Square, London. On 5 September, Corbyn attended and helped to organise an anti-lockdown rally organised by StandUpX Mission in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...
. During the rally he argued: that the lockdown was taking place so the British government can "end your rights and freedom, to control you"; that the shift to mass vaccination was dangerous; and that the British government have a hidden agenda. At the end of the rally, Corbyn was arrested and charged with three offences under the Health Protection (Coronavirus) Regulations 2020. The charges were later dropped. On 6 September, Corbyn invited
Sadiq Khan Sir Sadiq Aman Khan (, ; born 8 October 1970) is a British politician serving as Mayor of London since 2016. He was previously Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Tooting (UK Parliament constituency), Tooting ...
to permit a rally in
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster in Central London. It was established in the early-19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. Its name commemorates the Battle of Trafalgar, the Royal Navy, ...
London at noon on 26 September, and he invited MPs of any party to speak from the podium at the London rally. On 18 September, Corbyn spoke at a rally in Cornwall against the use of face masks to protect against COVID-19, and described all politicians as liars. On 24 September, Corbyn was one of the main speakers at an anti-mask rally in Norwich. On 26 September, Corbyn attended a rally in Leeds and repeated the claims he had made in Cornwall. By mid-September, Corbyn had been blamed for a split among conspiracy theorists promoting misinformation about COVID-19, with Kate Shemirani and Mark Steele no longer sharing platforms with Corbyn and
David Icke David Vaughan Icke ( ; born 29 April 1952) is an English conspiracy theorist, author and a former Association football, footballer and sports broadcaster. He has written over 20 books, self-published since the mid-1990s, and spoken in more tha ...
. On 3 October, Corbyn attended and spoke at an anti-lockdown protest at Old Market Square in Nottingham. On 9 October, Corbyn attended an anti-lockdown event in Oxford. On 11 October, Corbyn attended an anti-lockdown protest outside the
Welsh Parliament The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its ro ...
in Cardiff. He expressed his opposition to masks and told protesters to "free your face". On 14 October, Corbyn was the leader of an anti-lockdown protest in Sheffield. During his speech at the protest, he called for supporters to disobey public health restrictions. He described the British Parliament as a "brainwashing institution" that was full of "fake scientists" who are "paid liars". On 14 October, Corbyn attended an anti-lockdown protest in Bristol which was organised by the conspiracy theory group Stand UpX. He was one of fourteen people who were arrested for breaching new laws on assembly during the pandemic. On 16 October, Corbyn attended a demonstration in Soho, London, against the 10pm pub curfew. He said: "We're here to drink against the curfew. To oppose the lockdowns, to oppose job losses caused by lockdowns, to oppose all of it. The whole lot should be lifted now." On 17 October, Corbyn attended an anti-lockdown protest through Hyde Park and Oxford Street in London. Corbyn said to the crowd "
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
wants vaccinations to control you and to control women's fertility to reduce world population". On 18 October, Corbyn attended an anti-lockdown protest in Clayton Square, Liverpool City Centre. In a speech to protesters, he denied the existence of COVID-19, also suggested it was a
bioweapon Biological agents, also known as biological weapons or bioweapons, are pathogens used as weapons. In addition to these living or replicating pathogens, toxins and biotoxins are also included among the bio-agents. More than 1,200 different kin ...
, and said "it was used to unleash the most monstrous power-grab the world has ever seen". On 24 October, Corbyn attended an anti-lockdown protest by Save Our Rights UK using the slogan "Stop The New Normal" in London. The police determined that the protesters were not adhering to the coronavirus rules and decided to break up the protest. At least 18 people were arrested during the protest. Corbyn was due to appear at
Westminster Magistrates' Court Westminster Magistrates' Court is a Magistrates' court (England and Wales), magistrates' court at 181 Marylebone Road, London. The Chief Magistrate of England and Wales, who is the Senior Judiciary of England and Wales#District judges, Distric ...
on 17 November 2020 for breaching coronavirus rules on 16 and 30 May 2020. He was due to stand trial on 23 October 2020, but late disclosure of police logbooks delayed the proceedings. Corbyn's barrister told the court that he was "specifically targeted" by the police. Corbyn spoke outside of the court before the hearing on 23 October 2020: "Whatever happens, if they impose a fine, I will not pay the fine. I'm not going to pay any fines for these anti-just, illegal laws". Corbyn initiated and conceptualised an anti-vaccination leaflet which was distributed in Barnet and other areas of North London in December 2020 and Southwark in January 2021 comparing the Covid vaccine campaign to the
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. The leaflet had a drawing of the entrance to the
Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...
in which the
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
s' slogan '' Arbeit macht frei'' ("Work sets you free") had been altered to read "Vaccines are safe path to freedom." Corbyn denied the accusation of
antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, saying, "I was married for 22 years to a Jewess and obviously her mother's forebears fled the Baltic states just before the war because of Hitler or the Nazis in general. I've worked with Jewish leading world scientists over the last 30 years. I've also employed Jewish people in my business Weather Action, one of whom was a superb worker".


2021

During a voluntary visit to a London police station, Corbyn was arrested on 3 February 2021 on suspicion of malicious communications and public nuisance in connection with the leaflet; he was released on bail until early March, along with a man aged 37. Corbyn was arrested again at a protest in Fulham, West London on 27 February. In the meantime, he claimed to
Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...
via email that, while he accepted the existence of COVID-19, he spuriously compared it to flu, contradicting his leaflet's claim that COVID does not exist, as well as denying that there was a pandemic. On 1 March the Metropolitan Police reported that Corbyn had been charged along with Kate Shemirani for a series of breaches of the UK Coronavirus regulations. In June, the police began investigating Corbyn after they became aware of a video that surfaced online of him removing public health signs informing people to maintain social distance and to wear a face mask on a London Underground train. On 10 July, Corbyn and other anti-lockdown protesters staged a protest outside a vaccine centre bus in Brighton and Hove, which subsequently caused the NHS Brighton and Hove CCG to announce that they had to cancel some vaccine jabs because of "disruption during the anti-lockdown measures protest in the city". The protest was condemned by the Brighton and Hove council leader Phelim Mac Cafferty, who said, "It is incredibly disappointing to see the irresponsible actions of a few putting in danger the many." On 20 July, Corbyn attended and spoke at a protest outside the Labour Party's headquarters opposing the expulsion of Labour Party members who had been accused of antisemitism. He said that he was "100 per cent" behind "those being purged from the Labour Party". During his speech, Corbyn said that complying with the government's vaccine rollout was the same as the German people submitting to Nazi rule, stating, "You know what happened in Germany... they believed in Hitler. You know what happened, the rest is history". Corbyn's attendance at the protest was not welcomed by everyone present at the protest, and some of the protesters distanced themselves from him due to his COVID-19 denial. In July, YouTube pranksters Josh Pieters and Archie Manners, posing as
AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () (AZ) is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, UK. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...
investors, met Corbyn and offered him £10,000 under the condition that he would stop criticising the AstraZeneca vaccine. In reality, Corbyn received
Monopoly A monopoly (from Greek language, Greek and ) is a market in which one person or company is the only supplier of a particular good or service. A monopoly is characterized by a lack of economic Competition (economics), competition to produce ...
board game money. The pranksters told LBC when asked whether they feel sorry for Corbyn that they feel more sorry for "those he's conning". Corbyn was present at an anti-vaxxer demonstration on 9 August outside
Television Centre, London Television Centre (TVC), formerly known as BBC Television Centre, is a building complex in White City, West London, which was the headquarters of BBC Television from 1960 to 2013, when BBC Television moved to Broadcasting House. After a refu ...
(protesters falsely assumed it was still a major BBC facility) and outside the
ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...
building on
Gray's Inn Road Gray's Inn Road (or Grays Inn Road) is an important road in Central London, located in the London Borough of Camden. The road begins at its junction with Holborn at the City of London boundary, passes north through the Holborn and King's Cross ...
on 23 August 2021. In September 2021, Corbyn staged a protest outside the
Old Bailey The Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, commonly referred to as the Old Bailey after the street on which it stands, is a criminal court building in central London, one of several that house the Crown Court of England and Wales. The s ...
in London, on the day former Metropolitan Police officer Wayne Couzens was being sentenced for the murder of Sarah Everard. Corbyn said the fact that Couzens showed Everard his police warrant card and claimed to be arresting her for breaches of the UK's lockdown regulations in order to kidnap her was evidence that coronavirus laws were "not about controlling a virus" but instead "about controlling the public". The protest was widely seen as inappropriate given the highly disturbing and emotive nature of the Everard murder, and a passerby approached Corbyn shouting "How dare you hijack Sarah's death for your own cause?". Corbyn attended another large demonstration against the UK government's proposed COVID restrictions on 18 December 2021 in Parliament Square. There, he featured in another music video, this time alongside rapper Remeece, in which they walk through crowds of protestors whilst repeatedly calling for viewers to refuse to take the
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Knowledge about the structure and fun ...
. In a later speech at the demonstration, Corbyn's comments on these proposals to enforce guidelines to combat the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus were met with widespread backlash. He had urged the crowd "to hammer to death those scum, those scum who have decided to go ahead with introducing new fascism", as well as suggesting that the offices of MPs who had voted for the restrictions should be burned down.
Home Secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...
Priti Patel Dame Priti Sushil Patel (born 29 March 1972) is a British politician who has served as Shadow Foreign Secretary since November 2024, having previously served as Home Secretary from 2019 to 2022. A member of the Conservative Party, she was Secr ...
responded to online footage of Corbyn's speech, describing it as "sickening" and called for the police to take action against him. On 19 December, Corbyn was arrested for his comments.


See also

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Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corbyn, Piers 1947 births Living people 5G conspiracy theorists Alumni of Imperial College London Alumni of Queen Mary University of London British anti-vaccination activists Councillors in the London Borough of Southwark COVID-19 conspiracy theorists English conspiracy theorists English meteorologists British housing rights activists International Marxist Group members Labour Party (UK) councillors People educated at Adams' Grammar School People educated at Castle House School People from Chippenham 20th-century squatters Leaders of political parties in the United Kingdom