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Jeremy Corbyn has urged young people to vote in tomorrow’s European elections to halt the march of the far right.

In an exclusive interview for the MirrorNextGen project, he says there is a real risk that “extremely right-wing parties” could make gains.

The Labour leader says the EU’s system of proportional representation enhances the chances of fringe candidates taking seats and the only way to stop them is by voting.

He said: “As you will be aware there are extremely right-wing parties standing, which are quite racist in their approach, seeking to blame ­minorities for our ­problems.”

English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is standing as an MEP candidate in North West England.

(Image: Philip Coburn)

“The attacks on the Jewish minority or Muslim minority or any other minority are appalling and quite evil.

“So I urge people first of all to vote, and to not vote for any of the far-right parties.”

The Labour leader told how the young were at the heart of many of his key issues, such as mental health and knife crime.

And Mr Corbyn revealed how a personal tragedy inspired him on mental health, saying his views on depression and stress changed when a close friend took his own life.

What is Mirror NextGen? Welcome to MirrorNextGen: a ground-breaking project by the Mirror to put the things British teenagers care about at the heart of the national conversation. For one day only, we are handing over control of the Mirror to a team of teenage editors. They are taking charge of our coverage in both print and online - giving them the chance to tell us about the issues which matter to them. We hope you enjoy what you discover… and discover a lot.

“Having had friends who have taken their own lives I think we need to think very ­carefully about the stress people face in society.

“Many years ago a friend of mine took his own life. I never suspected for one moment he had any kind of problem.

(Image: Philip Coburn)

“He was the life and soul. So ‘reach out to people’ is my message. Just reach out.”

Mr Corbyn pledged Labour would ensure mental health services were properly funded.

“We have a mental health crisis. Access to services in schools is often very limited, and in colleges it is very, very limited.”

He promised action on knife crime, a crisis he sees in his Islington North constituency.

“Knife crime is terrifying and appalling. My own ­constituency had four ­stabbings last week.”

He outlined a number of steps to fight the problem.

“One is education. And saying to young people ‘carrying a knife is not going to save or protect you’.

'Secondly, that there is enough police contact through community support officers to ensure people in danger of getting involved in knife-related gangs can be persuaded away from that.”

Asked what else Labour would do to help young people he cited the party’s policies on work education and housing.

(Image: Philip Coburn)

He said Labour would end zero-hours contracts to secure all workers a fixed number of hours.

“The party has also pledged to scrap the £7.70 youth rate for the minimum wage so they receive the adult rate of £8.21.

“Some employers’ organisations have complained but as far as I’m concerned, a young person doing a job needs to be paid properly.

“And young people pay the same rent, eat probably more and have the same needs.”

Labour would also ­transform career guidance so year 10 and 11 pupils (aged 15-17) get help on deciding whether to go to college, university or do an apprenticeship.

Mr Corbyn added a lack of affordable housing was “blighting” a ­generation of young people.

“We’re committed to ­regulation of the private rented sector. This will guarantee fair rent and much longer tenancy.”

Asked about his own youth in a small town in Shropshire, Mr Corbyn said he was “quite political” from an early age but did not excel at academically.

He said: “On one level I loved the community, the open air and the countryside but the other side of it was you thought ‘somebody somewhere must be having a lot more fun’.

“But that’s the point of youth, you always think someone is having more fun.”

He told of handing leaflets calling for sanctions against apartheid South Africa but “to be quite honest I didn’t get much support”.

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“As a teenager I felt frustrated in school.

“I enjoyed reading but was not particularly successful academically. I enjoyed arguing with people.

“The thing I was best at was the debating society and I enjoyed history but I ended up with pretty bad grades.

“There was lots I loved about it but there was a sense of ­frustration at the isolation.

“I left when I was 18 and went to volunteer in Jamaica.

“And my life has been a series of adventures ever since.”