[the truth]

ITS JEREMY CORBYN ALL THE WAY SO FAR

How the Labour leadership candidates voted on Iraq and tuition fees

Labour members will be voting for their new leader in September after Ed Miliband stepped down.
They need to pick from Liz Kendall, Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, and surprise late entrant Jeremy Corbyn
How did they vote on the important issues... Like LGBT rights, civil liberties, the NHS, Iraq, and tuition fees


In September, members of the Labour Party will be asked to vote for their next leader - the leader that they hope will take them into power come the next election.


They have to choose from Andy Burnham, Yvette Cooper, Liz Kendall, and Jeremy Corbyn.

We look at their voting record on specific issues, to see how they differ, and why.


LGBT rights

Andy Burnham: "moderately for" equal gay rights
Yvette Cooper: "very strongly for" equal gay rights
Liz Kendall:"very strongly for" equal gay rights
Jeremy Corbyn: "very strongly for" equal gay rights



Wait. MODERATELY for? Hang on - it's not as bad as it sounds. Burnham simply wasn't there for two votes that come under equal gay rights.



Fox hunting



Andy Burnham: "very strongly for" the hunting ban
Yvette Cooper: "very strongly for" the hunting ban
Liz Kendall: Wasn't in parliament then
Jeremy Corbyn: "very strongly for" the hunting ban


Good, they aren't monsters.


Iraq War



Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper voted for the Iraq war. Liz Kendall only became an MP in 2010, so she wasn't around to vote for or against it. Jeremy Corbyn voted against it.HALLELUJAH



The smoking ban



Andy Burnham: "very strongly for" the smoking ban
Yvette Cooper: "moderately for" the smoking ban
Liz Kendall: "moderately for" the smoking ban
Jeremy Corbyn: "very strongly for" the smoking ban



Again, Kendall and Cooper are only "moderately for" the smoking ban because they were absent for a couple of votes.



Tuition fees



This is where the candidates really seem to diverge.



Andy Burnham: "moderately for" tuition fees
Yvette Cooper: "a mixture of for and against" tuition fees
Liz Kendall: "very strongly against" tuition fees
Jeremy Corbyn: "very strongly against" tuition fees



Both Burnham and Cooper voted in favour of raising tuition fees to £3,000 per year in 2004, but voted against raising the tuition fee cap to £9,000 in 2010.



Liz Kendall wasn't an MP in 2004 so didn't vote for the earlier motion, but she did vote very strongly against moving the tuition fee cap in 2010. Jeremy Corbyn voted against raising tuition fees to £3,000 in 2004, AND against raising the cap to £9,000 in 2010.



Health and Social Care Act, 2012



In 2012 the Health & Social Care Bill was proposed which would essentially mean paving the way for privatisation in the national health service. At the last minute, a motion was put forward to delay the bill until the government released the Transition Risk Register. The risk register detailed all of the potential risks of reorganising the NHS, and publishing it would have increased transparency around a bill that was hotly debated.



All four of the candidates voted that they should not pass the bill until the Transition Risk Register had been published by the government.



If you want to check how MPs have voted on issues that you care about, comb through their voting record at TheyWorkForYou.