Exclusive: New letter supporting Jeremy Corbyn signed by Roger Waters, Robert Del Naja and more

Brian Eno, Vivienne Westwood and Mark Ruffalo are also among the signatories declaring their support for the Labour leader ahead of next month's general election

An open letter written in support of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has collected over 30 signatories from a wide range of high-profile public figures, including musicians Roger Waters, Brian EnoThurston Moore, Kate Tempest, Robert Del Naja and Lowkey, NME can exclusively reveal.

The support follows the release of a letter from other celebrity names who oppose Corbyn’s position as leader of the party, denouncing what what they feared to be “the prospect of a prime minister steeped in association with antisemitism,” and comes less than a month before the UK general election on December 12.

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Jeremy Corbyn

In the new letter, the signatories – also featuring a range of major authors and academics, notably Naomi Klein and Noam Chomsky – describe Corbyn as a “life-long committed anti-racist” and claim that “no political party or political leader has done more to address [antisemitism] than Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party.” Read the full letter below.

“To the Editor:

“The coming UK election is indeed a landmark and monumental one as signatories to a recent letter attest. However, we are outraged that Jeremy Corbyn, a life-long committed anti-racist, is being smeared as an anti-semite by people who should know better. Antisemitism is a problem within society and is present within all political parties and movements, including Labour. It must be confronted and rooted out at every turn. No political party or political leader has done more to address this problem than Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party. In the last two years, the speed of investigations has increased fourfold, staffing committed to dealing with the issue has doubled, legal experts have been drafted, and rules changed to expedite sanctions. But the prevailing evidence speaks for itself: Labour’s political opponents and much of the media have trivialised and weaponised this issue for ideological ends.

“Progressives around the world are looking to this election and to the Labour Party as a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world. It has never been more important that voters are made aware of the truth of what the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn stands for: the eradication of all racism, including antisemitism, wherever it rears its ugly head.”

The text concludes with the full list of signatories, collected below:

Noam Chomsky
Naomi Klein
Yanis Varoufakis
Brian Eno
Rob Delaney
Angela Davis
Steve Coogan
Alexei Sayle
Maxine Peake
Roger Waters
Jason Hickel
Francesca Martinez
Lowkey
David Adler
Raoul Martinez
Miriam Margolyes
Massive Attack
Vivienne Westwood
Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth)
John Keane
Michael Mansfield QC
Adjoa Andoh
Mike Leigh
Michael Rosen
Robert Cohen
Mark Ruffalo
Amir Amirani
Mark Rylance
Caryl Churchill
Kate Tempest
Jocelyn Pook
David Graeber (London School of Economics)
Des Freedman (Goldsmiths, University of London)
Justin Schlosberg (Birkbeck, University of London)

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