To us, he’s a kindly socialist grandad figure who likes large vegetables. But to centrists, Jeremy Corbyn remains an object of absolute terror who has to be lied about and disparaged at every turn. So it was that MP Liz Kendall (remember her? No?) clashed with Corbyn on Robert Peston’s ITV show on Wednesday 11 January.
Liz who?
Kendall, who we should always remember lost massively to Corbyn in the 2015 Labour leadership election, decided to roll out some of the ageing attack lines loved by Red Tories across the land. She tried to argue that Corbyn only has himself to blame for being ejected from the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP). She also rehashed the old centrist line that Corbyn was to blame for antisemitism in Labour and that Corbyn should apologise:
The two most significant events in Liz Kendall’s political career are coming last in a Labour leadership election, and publicly smearing a bloke who got 12 times her vote in the that election. #Peston #Corbyn
— Joseph Attard (@josephattard02) January 12, 2023
Corbyn rejected the charges. He pointed out that he had commissioned a report by Shami Chakrabarti on the issue and apologised repeatedly for anyone affected. However, Corbyn reiterated that the scale of antisemitism in the party had been exaggerated for political purposes by his opponents. This was something which the Forde report partly confirmed, calling antisemitism a “factional weapon” used by both sides of the party – but specifically to Corbyn’s opponents as a “means of attacking” him.
Loser
Corbyn supporters slammed Kendall on Twitter. One made sure that his followers were fully aware that Kendall is most famous for getting very few votes in a leadership contest – just in case anyone forgot:
Poor Liz Kendall has never got over that 2015 leadership election when Jeremy Corbyn achieved 59% of the vote to her 4.5%!#Peston https://t.co/pITg9BHbY8
— Bill Hall 💙🐦 (@Artboy1) January 11, 2023
Kendall’s rather wooden diatribe even made one viewer gasp:
genuinely *gasped* to hear Liz Kendall turn so viciously on Corbyn. Sorry, but if that’s what ‘Labour’ have to offer, then they can keep it #peston
— Louis (@reallouisdicko) January 11, 2023
And journalist Ian Fraser said Kendall came across as a “truly horrible” person:
Liz Kendall comes across as a truly horrible person. Perhaps she still hasn’t come to terms with getting just 4.5% of first preference votes to Jeremy Corbyn’s 59% in 2015? @Peston #peston
— Ian Fraser (@Ian_Fraser) January 12, 2023
Kendall was branded “derogatory” and “condescending” towards Corbyn:
Jeremy Corbyn just spoke MORE sense on #peston than everyone else in the studio put together, watch it back and see for yourselves. @leicesterliz was derogatory, disrespectful and condescending towards @jeremycorbyn
History will not treat her kindly. Shameful!
Team Jeremy 💪
— Clare Reeve 📚🖊️ (@Clare_Jennifer) January 11, 2023
Labour: fearful of Corbyn?
The continued centrist assault on Corbyn started to grate a long time ago – not just because they are vapid people, but also because they base their analysis on so many untruths.
But, it also tells a story. The reason Keir Starmer and the likes of Kendall are so desperate to slander Corbyn is because they fear and hate the ordinary working people who identify with the reformist program he put forward during his time as leader. Sadly, these capitalist goons are what the public is left with in the Labour Party, now – and Corbyn is well out of this toxic mess.
Featured image via Wikimedia Commons/Jeremy Corbyn, cropped to 770 x 403, licenced under CC 1.0 Universal.
