Corbyn had his faults, but British politics will be forever poorer without a man of his compassion

Former colleagues of Jeremy Corbyn took another undignified swipe at the Labour man this weekend with spurious allegations that he sabotaged his own election campaign.

The reports, published in the Sunday Times more than eight months on from the December poll, listed ‘demands to see his own schedule’ among reasons why he was to blame for the catastrophic defeat.

Overlooking the fact that press hostility towards Labour Party doubled during 2019 election while negative coverage about the Conservatives halved they took the opportunity to twist the knife in a publication owned by the man who did the most to put the stoppers on one of the most progressive, radical agendas of the century – an irony that was clearly lost on them.

A man with his faults

But while Mr Corbyn is undoubtedly a man who had faults – aren’t we all? – no one can doubt the amount of compassion he brought to the job.

Even this weekend, the day before the Times election claims went to print, he joined protesters outside the Tate Modern Gallery to speak out about the planned axing of 300 jobs.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union – who represent workers at the galleries’ shops and cafes – thanked Corbyn for ‘showing solidarity’ with the workers, an endeavour he had given up his Saturday to do.

Contrast that with the response of the Prime Minister following a scandal that impacted tens of thousands of students and you get a measure of the man.

When we need it the most

If the events of the last few months have shown us anything it is that compassion is the thing missing the most from UK politics.

Rather than berating a politician for wanting to check his diary, might we ask where someone with his moral fibre was when the migrant crisis was met with military action?

Might we ask where someone with his dedication was when the exam crisis hit and thousands of young students were left deserted and alone?

Might we ask where someone with his sympathy was when the care home crisis struck or when the most vulnerable front line staff got hung out to dry?

He would have done far more than just clap at the foot of Number 10, yet in the eyes of the media he will always be cast as the “irritable party leader”.

Go figure.

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