I never thought I would write this but well done Jeremy Corbyn. If ever there would be a politically correct Christmas card, then I assumed it would be his. Indeed I was a little bit surprised he even sent one.
Not only has JC produced a Christmas card, but it is a rather good one. It's got snow, a red (naturally) telephone box, bikes with over large tyres and - joy upon joy - he also wishes us 'Merry Christmas'.
Not for Jeremy is it the dreaded 'Season's Greetings', no he has gone the whole hog and bravely used the C word.
In fact the only proper way to respond to this lovely card from the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition is to wish Jeremy Corbyn and my reader a Happy Winterval in return.
This will be a brief post.
I am a Conservative because on the whole I think the Conservatives manage the economy better than the rest. Without economic competence you cannot have all the other things we value - sound defences, security, the NHS, decent public services etc.
That is not to say that I think my Party gets everything right. We are human and left to our own devices do get many things wrong.
To be any good a Conservative Government needs an effective Opposition. Some of my Conservative colleagues think it is great that someone as unelectable and (even worse) hopelessly useless, as Jeremy Corbyn, is Labour leader.
Corbyn's 'leadership' means the Conservative Party is ahead by between 10 & 15 % in the polls even when doing all sorts of things which would normally make a Government very unpopular.
The absence of an effective Opposition is a bad thing. My Conservative #saveJez chums tell me not to worry, because the real opposition will come from Conservative rebels, the media, pressure groups and the few remaining brave Labour MP's prepared to speak out against their leader.
That's true to some extent I guess but misses one important point. Even the most effective, eloquent and persuasive journalist, pundit, pressure group or backbench Labour rebel is not an alternative Government/PM.
Please my Labour friends do your patriotic duty. Either remove Jeremy Corbyn as soon as possible and replace him with someone who is a potential Prime Minister - or leave the Party and form a new electable centre-left Opposition.
NB and here's a tip for free: the person the Conservatives fear most is Andy Burnham (only joking) Major Jarvis
Jeremy Corbyn became the Labour Party leader by accident. I am not suggesting that the Labour selectorate didn't vote for him in their hundreds of thousands, for they most certainly did. Rather I am suggesting that if the hard left of the Labour Party had realised they had a chance of capturing the leadership of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, they would never have put forward Corbyn as their candidate.
Once it became clear that Corbyn would win, many of us in the soggy, central mush of practical get things done politics (actually where the vast majority of Conservative, Labour and Lib Dem voters - as opposed to activists - are) were genuinely alarmed that a firebrand Trot was going to instigate class war and lead the revolution.
I guess in some ways Corbyn would like to do that, but there is one very good reason why he cannot - he is actually pretty useless.
Corbin cannot organise the revolution because he cannot lead. A lifetime spent only meeting and debating with people who agree with you has left him totally ill-suited to leading the Labour Party anywhere other than the wilderness. His speeches are hopeless and his media appearances are a case study in how not to deal with journalists. Reading out questions from the public in the manner of a local radio DJ was not an example of a enlightened new way of conducting Prime Minister's Questions (Cameron can deal with that kind of stuff with his eyes shut) but rather an admission by Corbyn's advisors that he cannot do the job of calling the Government to account himself.
We now find ourselves in a situation akin to that of Liverpool Council back in the Militant days of the early '80's. Then the Liverpool Labour Party had an official leader noone can remember (it's a good pub quiz question) but actually the Party was led by the eloquent, charming and fantastically extreme deputy, Derek 'Degsy' Hatton.
Today Labour's real leader is certainly not Jeremy Corbyn. Nor is the official Deputy, Tom Watson, in charge. Watson is a professional resigner who is fighting a rearguard action to maintain his credibility having over reached himself by turning an admirable campaign to expose the mistakes made by the authorities in failing to investigate child sex abuse, into some kind of anti-Tory Salem style conspiracy exposé.
I suspect the real leader of the Labour Party is now John McDonnell. He is a better debater than Corbyn, and actually much more able. I have little doubt that had he thought there was any chance of winning he would have run for the leadership himself (just as he tried to do when Gordon Brown was enthroned by a cowed Labour Party).
Corbyn is completely reliant on McDonnell. It is why he took the extraordinary decision of appointing this divisive and feared figure as his Shadow Chancellor to the disappointment of nearly every Labour MP. Corbyn will do whatever McDonnell wants - it is John McDonnell who is now the de-facto leader of the Labour Party.
Oh and by the way you quizzers it was John Hamilton who led the Liverpool Council in the early '80's.
If, like me, you can hardly go one hour without thinking about the Labour leadership contest, then you will have seen the latest attempt in the Guardian by Tony Blair to ensure Jeremy Corbyn wins.
The piece is written in that folksy style which made Tony's autobiography surprisingly readable, and perhaps goes to explain why he got on so well with 'Yo Blair' Dubya.
Of course I actually agree with much of what Blair has written but sadly for him, and my pocket, I do not have a vote.
I like to think that I am pretty shrewd when it comes to betting on politics, and I had confidently laid Jeremy Corbyn (a form of words that must be read in context obviously) for a reasonable sum, sure that when it came to the time to actually mark their cross number Labour members and assorted £3 registered supporters would not actually choose electoral oblivion.
Yet it seems my faith in the good sense and patriotism of the Labour electorate was misplaced. They really are going to choose a man who advocates leaving NATO, Zimbabwe style money printing, Venezuelan price controls and cosy chats with friends from Hamas and Hezbollah.
Part of the reason for this has been the dreadfully poor fight put up by JC's three rivals. The inexperienced Blairite candidate, Liz Kendall, has adopted a campaign strategy almost entirely based on telling Labour supporters why they are wrong - a kind of electoral version of suicide by cop.
Andy 'I like footie and live in a coal mine' Burnham has feebly said whatever he thought would appeal to whoever he was speaking to at that moment, even if it directly contradicted whatever he said to a different audience the day before.
In fairness to Yvette Cooper she has done a bit better, finally taking the fight to Corbyn (if a month too late). She strikes me as efficient, dependable and competent, but dreadfully cautious and yes, a teeny bit boring. Unlike the big defeat which faces Labour under JC, I suspect a Cooper led Labour Party would perform respectably enough without ever threatening to win.
Two weeks to go then before Corbyn becomes Labour leader, and I lose £200. Thanks Tony!
