While we’re waiting on Jezza to pull his finger out and finally decide to reconstitute his ‘Peace & Justice Project’ into a new political party, he’s been busy still not getting over the 2019 election result. Yesterday yet another sore-loser interview was published, with the independent MP once again refusing any blame for Labour’s decimation, and accusing outlets like The Guardian and the BBC of outrageously focusing on his antisemitism crisis:
“I have absolutely no illusions in the Guardian, none whatsoever,” Corbyn tells me. “My mum brought me up to read the Guardian. She said, ‘It’s a good paper you can trust’. You can’t. After their treatment of me, I do not trust the Guardian.”
…
“He continues: “So was I surprised? No. And I’ve had to live with the behaviour of the Guardian ever since. But the Guardian is in a unique position because it is the paper most read by Labour Party members, is the most important in forming opinion on the centre and left in British politics. And they are very well aware of that, which is why I think an analysis of the Guardian’s treatment of the time that I was leader of the party needs to be made because they and the BBC had more unsourced reporting of anti-semitic criticisms surrounding me than any other paper, including the Mail, The Telegraph and the Sun.””
Off the back of this, the publisher, Declassified UK, makes the following incredibly misjudged assessment:
“The media assault on Corbyn during his tenure as Labour leader from 2015-20 will be recorded as perhaps the most intense political assassination in modern British history.”
An assessment Corbyn’s Peace & Justice Project clearly agrees with, actively picking the quote out when sharing the interview:
The most intense political assassination in modern British history.
— Peace and Justice Project (@corbyn_project) June 22, 2022
Read @jeremycorbyn's full interview with @declassifiedUK.
Join us: https://t.co/wjXVwdJ42xhttps://t.co/CDKP5qCbrU
Guido suspects the families of Jo Cox and Sir David Amess would disagree with the self-pitying hyperbole…
Jonathan Ashworth outraged Corbynites last night, using an appearance on Andrew Neil’s Channel 4 show to finally embrace Guido’s 2019 leaked recording as a means of proving he never backed Jeremy Corbyn for PM. When Guido dropped the explosive election recording, in which Ashworth claimed Corbyn wouldn’t win and the Civil Service machine would move to safeguard national security if he did, Jon was forced in real-time to concoct a story that it was just “joshing” with a mate, and that of course he didn’t believe it. No one bought it…
When Guido met him on the terrace a couple of months ago, Ashworth still seemed to be standing by his TV spin, adding that it was because of concerns over his mate’s mental health that he said those things. Last night, however, we finally saw a public u-turn, telling Andrew Neil:
“JA: He was never going to be Prime Minister…
AN: You didn’t say that at the time!
JA: Well I did actually, that was the problem! I remember being in many newspapers having said that”
Aside from his own credibility problems, Sir Keir must find it difficult leading a charge against dishonesty in politics with Jonathan Ashworth still on his front bench…
UPDATE: Ashworth’s former mate who leaked his candid view of Corbyn gets in touch to say “The only thing he was concerned about was getting the hard-left to back him for leader!”
It’s pretty rare these days for Starmer and Corbyn to find themselves on the same side of a political row, though it looks like their new found mutual opposition to the government’s Rwanda plan – and their love of Arsenal football club – has achieved it. Over the last week both the current Labour leadership and its backbench of hard-left Socialist Campaign Group MPs have been unified in their opposition to sending illegal migrants to Rwanda, partly over cost and legality though primarily over unjustified accusations the country is a third world, human rights hell-hole. Starmer’s shadow cabinet members have labelled it “unethical”, Corbyn said it’s “shameful and beyond cruel”.
Arsenal fans Corbyn and Starmer’s concern for Rwanda has only just come to prominence. Both are long-time regular attendees at Arsenal matches where the stadium and players’ kits were adorned with ‘Visit Rwanda’ sponsorship from 2018. Clearly Arsenal Football Club disagrees with their political patrons about the state of Rwanda, given they ran a competition for an eight-day all-inclusive trip to the country in 2019. Two days after tweeting his condemnation, Corbyn was then at Arsenal Football club where he no doubt will have seen the pro-Rwanda branding…
The sponsorship, worth £10 million pounds, has come under fire over the last week from fans since the government’s announcement, with the Mail highlighting demands for it to be terminated. Sir Keir and Jeremy are yet to say anything about the sponsorship, however. Seems like they are not opposed to all Rwanda travel deals…
Self-proclaimed “independent journalist” Graham Phillips is having a rough ride in the press at the moment. The former civil servant – who now spends his days spreading Russian propaganda, calling support for Ukraine “virtue signalling“, and goading Ukrainian prisoners of war into denouncing their country – is being hammered in the British newspapers for his alleged ties to the Kremlin. Fortunately, he may have a parliamentary ally on his side during these tough times…
After being released from Ukrainian detention in 2014, caused by his coverage of the Crimean War for Russia Today, it was none other than Jeremy Corbyn who publicly celebrated the news as a “happy outcome“:
@BBCBreaking @alexgordonrmt Great news that Graham Phillips has been released. Well done every e who put reserve on for ths happy outcome.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 21, 2014
Yesterday Jeremy could barely even bring himself to admit he admires Zelensky’s leadership…
Another standout interview from the independent MP for Islington North this afternoon, with Jeremy performing all his greatest hits in the space of just a few minutes. Everything from disbanding NATO, to dismissing antisemitism under his leadership, to his plans for starting a new party – a real crowdpleaser of a show from the absolute boy…
Asked if he plans to start a new party to challenge Labour at the next election (since the odds of Starmer restoring the whip are basically 0), Corbyn said:
“I don’t know what the future is going to bring… I am focused on representing my constituency, being a member of Parliament and on saying to the Labour Party, to win the next election you have to appeal to people.”
Of course, if there’s one person who could give Keir Starmer advice on winning elections, it’s Jeremy Corbyn…
When asked if he admires Zelensky as a leader, Corbyn claimed he “doesn’t know” because he’s “never met him.” Presumably he spent plenty of time with Mary Wollstonecraft then, because he’s previously insisted she’s his “political hero”…
Then on disbanding NATO, Jeremy once again insisted it would be a good idea:
“I would want to see a world where we start to ultimately disband all military alliances. The issue has to be what’s the best way of bringing about peace in the future? Is it by more alliances? Is it by more military build up? Or is it by stopping the war in Ukraine and the other wars, which you haven’t mentioned at all in this discussion that are going on at the present time, which are also killing a very large number of people? And ask yourself the question, do military alliances bring peace? Or do they actually encourage each other and build up to a greater danger?
All in all, another great showing. A real mystery why Sir Keir wants nothing to do with him…
