Aiming to 'Build a Movement Across Borders,' Ocasio-Cortez and Corbyn Discuss Climate, Immigration, and Economic Justice

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn spoke at length Sunday evening about their shared progressive vision. (Photo: Scott Eisen/Anthony Devlin/Getty Images)

Aiming to 'Build a Movement Across Borders,' Ocasio-Cortez and Corbyn Discuss Climate, Immigration, and Economic Justice

An extensive talk between the two progressive leaders highlighted a shared "hope in the peace, prosperity, and justice that everyday people can create when we uplift one another," Ocasio-Cortez said

Two popular progressive figures indicated that they'd formed a new alliance this weekend, as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) spoke extensively with Jeremy Corbyn, head of the U.K.'s Labour Party, about their shared commitment to push bold, forward-thinking proposals.

Corbyn thanked Ocasio-Cortez for "challenging the status quo" just a month into her first term in Congress following her surprise primary victory against 10-term, pro-business Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley.

The congresswoman has already started a substantive national dialogue about the need to tax the wealthiest Americans at a much higher rate, pushing a plan to tax all income over $10 million at 70 percent. In the U.K., Corbyn has called for a tax system which demands far more of the wealthiest five percent of Britons, promoting a plan that would create PS6.4 billion ($8.3 billion) in revenue.

Corbyn expressed hope on Twitter that the conversation would be the beginning of a global conversation about "taking on the billionaires" and others who benefit from the current economic system.

Ocasio-Cortez praised the conversation as a "wide-reaching" one which dealt with their ideas for "peace, prosperity, and justice that everyday people can create."

The two progressives discussed the climate crisis and the need to invest in government services for the public as well as their joint condemnation of President Donald Trump's proposed wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, which Corbyn has said "undermines international law."

The conversation came two months after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis unveiled Progressive International, a global movement aimed at uniting progressive leaders, advocates, and constituents all over the world in the fight for economic and social justice--battles that affect most of the global population while the richest amass exorbitant wealth.

"It is important that we build that sense of international connection," Corbyn told Varoufakis last year at the Edinburgh Book Festival.

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