If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Or in Jeremy Corbyn’s case, if you can’t beat ’em, Trump ’em. On Friday it emerged that the Labour leader has hit upon a bold new strategy to turn around his political fortunes. He is going to embrace his inner Donald.

Western politics is being swept by a new populism. So rather than stand Canute-like against the rising alt-right tide, the bearded one plans to surf it.

According to reports, from the start of next year Corbyn’s ‘unpolished authenticity’ will be leveraged as he launches his own populist revolution. There will, we are told, be a host of new media appearances.

A fresh raft of policies will showcase his willingness to take a stand against Britain’s vested interests. The ‘Watch the Jez tape and grab them where they’re cushy’ strategy.

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. Or in Jeremy Corbyn’s case, if you can’t beat ’em, Trump ’em

On the surface, the idea of Corbyn making a dramatic new pitch to become the Nigel Farage of the Left may sound ludicrous.

And that’s because it is ludicrous. Totally, utterly, irredeemably, laughably, ludicrous.

In the same week that Corbyn announced his bid to rebrand himself The People’s Jeremy, he also announced he was bringing a former senior Sinn Fein aide, Jayne Fisher, into his inner circle. A video clip quickly surfaced of her performing a moving rendition of The Fields Of Athenry, accompanied by former IRA gunman Brendan McFarlane on guitar.

A few days earlier, it was revealed that Corbyn was considering a policy of banning sales of new petrol cars. Several days before that he had privately informed his MPs he had no intention of adopting a new hard-line stance on reducing immigration. This is the sort of Left-wing populism that would have even made the late, unlamented Fidel Castro blush.

Corbyn is not, has never been, and never will be, a populist. Quite the opposite. He is a Left-wing unpopulist. His political success is based not on mass appeal but on minimalist appeal. Cliques, cults, factions. They are where he feels at home, not engaging in the political equivalent of sitting coquettishly in front of the Taj Mahal, wondering when his prince will come.

But there is still something revealing about this latest attempt to re-launch project Corbyn. Namely, its sheer desperation.

There are a group of Corbynite fanatics who are forever lost to reason. There is nothing their hero can say or do that will make the hammers and sickles fall from their eyes. But among a section of his hitherto hard-core support, a change is taking place.

It’s no longer the Labour moderates who can be seen huddled together in quiet corners of the Westminster estate, but Corbyn’s allies – or former allies.

‘Clive Lewis is going to be doing a workshop for Labour MPs titled “building the brand,”’ a backbencher informed me last week. ‘I wonder whose brand he’s taking about.’

The Labour leader has hit upon a bold new strategy to turn around his political fortunes

Briefings have begun to appear citing Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry – lauded for her stand-in performance at last week’s PMQs – as the favourite among her colleagues to replace her leader should an unfortunate accident befall him while he is tending his allotment cabbages.

Diane Abbott has begun helpfully talking about how her leader will have to turn Labour’s catastrophic poll ratings around within 12 months. Unite union boss Len McCluskey – set to embark on a tricky leadership election campaign of his own – has started to distance himself from Corbyn’s stance on free movement.

This subtle back-pedalling towards the far end of the throne room has partly been brought about by a change in tactics from the Labour leader’s more traditional opponents. ‘We’re not attacking him any more,’ said one former Shadow Cabinet member, ‘and it’s working. Now that he can’t define himself against the evil Blairite plotters he doesn’t know what to do.’

That good old-fashioned staple – ambition – is also having an impact. For those on the far Left like Lewis and Thornberry, there is a realisation that securing the leadership this side of a General Election is more realistic than standing amid the apocalypse of post-2020 annihilation. As one Labour MP put it: ‘The sensible Left knows that when Corbynism makes contact with the electorate it’s over for them.’

But there is another factor. There is now clear evidence that Corbyn is nearing ‘burn-through’. Every leader benefits from a series of political firewalls. Diehards, loyalists, supporters, agnostics, sceptics, critics. They are what stand, to varying degrees, between that leader’s success and failure. And gradually time or events or base human frailty sees them burnt away.

Corbyn’s firewalls have been consumed at an alarming rate. Yes, there were always those who would not reconcile themselves to his leadership. But there were those who hoped he could learn on the job. Or would seek to build fresh alliances. Or surround himself with wise consul. Or divest himself of some of his ideological certainty. Or simply take David Cameron’s mother’s advice and do up his tie. They have all been lost to him now.

Which leaves the last firewall. The diehards.

There aren’t many of them left now. And while they may be die-hards, they do not necessarily have a death-wish. They can see the old rebels steadfastly refusing to rebel. They can read the opinion polls, and count the lost by-election deposits.

They know that Corbyn – and by extension they – no longer have anywhere to hide. And they can see the flames advancing steadily towards them.

Corbyn hoped September’s leadership election would lay the challenge from the centrists in his party to rest. And it has done. So now the murmurings of discontent are coming from the Left. It is the Left that is now demanding change. It is the Left that is calling for new, increasing fantastical strategies to halt Labour’s slide into oblivion.

And that should be troubling Corbyn this weekend. Because when the pitiful attempt to channel his inner Donald fails – as it most assuredly will – his last remaining firewall will quickly follow.



Reports that Tony Blair is returning to Britain in the new year to set up an organisation to fight for the ‘centre ground’ of British politics has generated much media excitement.

But I understand his new venture is facing unexpected opposition – from the Blairites themselves.

‘To be honest, it’s not really that helpful,’ an ally of the former PM told me last week.

‘The agenda has moved on. It’s time Tony realises that he’s not part of the solution any more, he’s actually a part of the problem. He needs to step back and let a new generation take the fight forward.’

Oh, how quickly they forget.

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell appear to be on a collision course over Watson’s decision to set up a formal investigation into the ‘fake news’ phenomenon.

At a conference last Saturday, McDonnell condemned what he called the ‘assault’ on ‘independent’ media outlets. But Watson appears unmoved.

At his Christmas party for Westminster lobby hacks on Tuesday he praised the ‘vital’ work of the mainstream media, and again took a swipe at the fake news peddlers.

‘McDonnell is worried because he knows the fake-news sites are the only ones that will take him seriously,’ says a Watson ally. So much for straight-talking, honest politics.

What's fuelling Lucas's train views?

As the Southern rail strike continues to blight the lives of hundreds of thousands of commuters, MPs of all persuasions have been lining up to demand the unions call a halt their disruption.

But Caroline Lucas, doughty co-leader of the Greens and member for Brighton Pavilion, has taken a different approach.

As the Southern rail strike continues to blight the lives of hundreds of thousands of commuters, Caroline Lucas has taken a different approach

Ms Lucas has been persistent in her calls for Ministers to accept union demands as a way of bringing peace.

Could this be the same Caroline Lucas who, in the run-up to last year’s General Election, accepted a donation of £7,000 from the RMT union?

The same Caroline Lucas who, before that donation was offered, had welcomed Tory Government attempts to limit the amount unions can donate to election campaigns?