But what’s interesting about Jeremy Corbyn, and may defuse my concerns, is his positions on science, as delineated by NewScientist (19 September 2015, paywall), which frowns at his positive stance on homeopathy, but continues:
HE WANTS Charles Darwin’s birthday to be a public holiday. And he accepts that human activity is warming the planet – he has pressed the current UK government to double its 2030 targets for cutting emissions of carbon dioxide from 40 to 80 per cent. …
… Corbyn has created a shadow minister for mental health – a position with no opposite number in the government. In February, he spoke in parliament on why he thought mental health was such an important issue.
Corbyn also says that Trident, the UK’s nuclear weapons programme, should be scrapped.
Last month, he affirmed his backing for scientific and technological research.
In another article, NewScientist notes:
Corbyn also backed a “Science is Vital” motion in 2010 calling for the reversal of cuts to the science budget.
But some commentators believe that other policies Corbyn has could work against this, such as his pledge to reduce tuition fees for students, currently around £9000 per year for each student. Kieron Flanagan, a lecturer in science and technology policy at Manchester Business School, says that the fees have brought valuable income to universities that they can spend on research, but that this would disappear if the fees were scrapped. “Would it be replaced by an equivalent amount from central government funds?” asks Flanagan.
