I am very grateful to this newspaper for giving me an opportunity
to respond to the Oldham by-election - and indeed to respond
to every aspect of Corbynism since it first appeared.
I was one of the first to notice Corbyn's jumper
as a key part of why he would fail to win the Labour
leadership contest and though I wasn't entirely right
in that matter, I think I can say with confidence that
he would have won it by more votes had he worn
a suit and tie.
Again, I spotted the fact that Corbyn has spent a
lifetime on the backbenches. I don't think anyone
had noticed that before, so I made that public.
More importantly, I've been able to write and
talk about that again
and again. And again and again...and how Corbyn has
split the Labour Party. The Labour Party used to
be united. All the time. In the Blair era, the Labour
Party had a great, charismatic leader who united
the party round the need to kill people in the
Middle East. This was a major achievement
and everyone in the press - and therefore the world -
are in great admiration of him for doing that.
The moment Corbyn came in, he gave support
to the little ragbag of outsiders, losers, has-beens
and wannabees, while the people who could really
unite the party have been pushed to the edges.
That's why I am so glad that the TV companies
give these great unity-creators such a good
airing day in day out, to come on to the TV
and explain how bad Corbyn is. This unites
the party. Obviously.
Now to Oldham: well not literally. I've never been
there. Oldham was a disaster for Corbyn.
If he hadn't been the leader, Oldham would
have been a 100% Labour-voting constituency.
No one would have voted Tory, UKIP or LibDem.
As it was, thousands of people refused to vote for Corbyn.
Even so, there is clearly something wrong with the people
of Oldham because some of them did actually vote Labour.
I look forward to being on Question Time, Any Questions,
Sky News, ITV News, Channel 4 News, Channel Five,
Five Live, World at One, the Daily Politics, to put
these crucial ideas across.
I'm not actually an MP anymore but I do have a place
in the House of Lords though I haven't been able to get
there recently as I am spending more time with my
yacht.
