What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Politics is a rough game. We who put ourselves forward try to do so with honourable intentions.

To be a champion for those who have no voice. To fight for what you believe will make the world better.

But if there’s one thing I’ve hated in my 50 years in politics, it’s dealing with the media.

Don’t get me wrong. I believe in a free, fair and honest press. The Thalidomide scandal, which left thousands of children with birth defects, was exposed by brilliant investigative journalists in the Sixties and Seventies.

We need good journalists to ­scrutinise politicians, hold big business to account and ask questions about the state of our country.

But over the past 20 years, we have seen a decline in journalistic standards at some papers, driven by media barons who want to decide who rules Britain in their best interests, not yours.

(Image: REUTERS)

It sickens me to see party leaders cosying up to these people, believing their paper’s endorsement will get them into No 10. Comprom-ising and even changing their beliefs to get positive coverage.

Many politicians are prepared to do that trade-off.

David Cameron employed the News of the World’s editor Andy Coulson to curry favour with Rupert Murdoch, knowing all too well he had a dodgy past. He played the game.

If you don’t play the game, the media barons will turn on you.

Jeremy Corbyn has never played the game.

You may not like his politics but he’s a principled man who’s never compromised what he believes in. That scares the hell out of the establishment.

Corbyn wants the second part of Leveson’s inquiry into the conduct of the press. It was in Labour’s manifesto that 13 million voted for, along with a commitment to review media ownership. But the media barons, knowing they can’t deal with Corbyn, chose to destroy him.

The Sun’s claim that Corbyn was some Cold War spy is the most outrageous political smear I’ve ever seen. Of course, this is not new.

During Labour’s first minority government in 1924, the Daily Mail and other right-wing papers published the Zinoviev letter from the head of the Communist International in Moscow, claiming to call for British communists to prepare for revolution. The Labour Government fell but the letter was later proved to be forged by an MI6 spy.

Fifty years later another Labour government under Harold Wilson was accused by the right-wing press of improper Russian security ­activities, with no evidence. Now it’s Jeremy’s turn to be smeared.

(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

What’s worse, the Conservative government helped to keep the story running, even when it was clear the so-called Czech spy who made the claims had been completely discredited.

Security minister Ben Wallace compared Corbyn to the traitor Kim Philby, a double agent for the Russians. Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson accused Jeremy of a “betrayal” of his country. And Tory vice-chairman Ben Bradley tweeted that Corbyn had “sold British secrets to communist spies”.

Even Theresa May agreed with The Sun that Corbyn’s Stasi “file” should be released. Now it’s been proved it never existed. It was a lie.

May and her ministers were all useful idiots for billionaire media barons who seek to crush a man who wants to take them on.

Playing the game to cling to power, to distract you from the damage they’re causing to our NHS, public services and Brexit.

But the game has changed. Corbyn proved that when, even under a sustained media assault, he came close to winning an election. They still fear he might.

This wasn’t about spying. It was about lying. And the public aren’t falling for it.

Next time, these journalists should Czech their facts.