Is Jeremy Corbyn on drugs?

The pharma industry in the UK is an important source of employment and growth. It accounts for 0.8% of UK GDP according to the government’s estimates and employs more than 70,000 Britons. Research and development is expensive, which is why it is vital that pharma makes profits, to pay for the discovery and manufacture of new drugs. The profit attracts investors who expect a return for their investment. This arrangement has produced decades of improvements in drugs and healthcare. If it is imperfect (what isn’t?) and “big pharma” has too much power then increased competition not eliminating private investment is the answer.

From time to time, someone on the far left suggests abolishing private pharma completely so that supposedly “wasteful” profit can be eliminated and the government can then develop drugs exclusively. And then, someone has to point to the places state control of industry and research and development has been tried (let’s talk about the Soviet Union) and explain what a disaster life is without a proper pharma industry.

Now, as part of his leadership campaign, Jeremy Corbyn wants to crack down on the industry and eliminate tax breaks. Labour MPs are already pointing out the negative impact this would have on employment in a vital industry.

There are two possible explanations for what is going on here.

1) Corbyn’s challenger Owen Smith used to work as a lobbyist for a “big pharma” company and Corbyn wants to draw attention to this to further enrage Corbynite activists. Concerns such as employment, or how drugs are produced, or what voters will think of it, are irrelevant to the man and the aides who run him. They’ll do and say anything to protect their hard left takeover of Labour.

2) Corbyn is on mind-bending drugs.