John McDonnell wrote an article on 26 February announcing that a “soft coup” is under way against Jeremy Corbyn. This coup, claimed McDonnell, “is being perpetrated by an alliance between elements in the Labour party and the Murdoch media empire, both intent on destroying Jeremy Corbyn and all that he stands for”. But the truth is that not everyone who wants Corbyn out is a Blairite stooge, or in thrall to Rupert Murdoch: the latest ally of the Progress Putsch is Stephen Hawking.

This, to remind you, is the man who said “I wouldn’t be here today if not for the NHS”, and warned that the NHS “must be preserved from commercial interests who want to privatise it”. He has also pointed out that inequality is one of the biggest threats to the planet. Sentiments not so far from those of a certain Islington MP. Not exactly the rightwing ideologue of McDonnell’s imagination.

But we now have a Labour party where more Corbyn supporters think a short speech by Tony Blair caused the defeat in Copeland than believe their leader had anything to do with it. In that context it will be interesting to see McDonnell’s statement about Hawking’s comments. Perhaps the Russians who hacked the EU referendum and the presidential race have somehow found their way into Hawking’s speech synthesizer? Or maybe the “MSM”, the mainstream media, has twisted Hawking’s words, and he’s actually branch chair of Physicists for Jezza?

A constant feature of the current leadership of the Labour party is to blame anyone but Corbyn for the party’s failures. But maybe, when one of the smartest people in the world claims that Corbyn is a “disaster for the Labour party”, and when Owen Jones, a journalist long seen as Corbyn’s biggest ally in the media, says it would be hard to vote for him were there another leadership election, the thing to do isn’t it decry the critics as red Tories, the thing to do is to listen. We are approaching a point where the strongest critics of Corbyn are not the Conservatives, most of whom can’t believe their luck that he’s clung on so long. No, Corbyn’s detractors are increasingly those who originally supported him: people who care immensely about the NHS, people who are most invested in getting Labour into power.

A friend of mine who was heavily involved in campaigning in the Stoke byelection gave me a depressing account of it. Apparently, door-knockers in Stoke had noticed that the more they mentioned Corbyn, the more likely it was that the person on the other side of the door would slam it in their face. Another friend who has been a Labour member for years tells me they have given up canvassing by phone because, more often than not, any mention of Corbyn gets them hung up on. These reports are anecdotal, of course. But they chime with the harder data provided by polling.

In Brexit Britain, only a Labour government would properly guarantee workers’ rights and minimise any impact on living standards. But with the SNP dominant in Scotland, and the boundary reforms set to benefit the Conservatives, the only route to power is via a competent leader. I voted for Corbyn the first time round, but it has become clear that for the Labour party to survive, he must step down. Don’t take it from me, take if from the heir to Einstein.