Like the death of Little Nell, all the wailing, ululating and gnashing of teeth by the left is not without its comedic moments. Yasmin Alibai Brown sobs in her corner shop, Owen Jones (where would we be without him?) is in a state of disbelief and shock and Paul Mason will man (am I allowed to say that?) the barricades to keep the flame of Corbynism burning brightly.
As just about everything that could be said about Corbyn and his mobsters has been, I will confine myself to one shocking but obvious truth. It is quite revolting to see the sense of entitlement of the monied, educated, middle class left. They treat the working classes like cattle hefted to vote Labour. For them to do anything else is a mental illness of which they must be cured. There is genuine disbelief that these ‘sort of people’ could possibly vote Tory, who are nothing more than a subhuman aberration who want to grind the faces of the poor into the dirt, make us eat American chlorinated chicken and sell off the NHS to the anti Christ Trump. The awful thing is that some of them actually believe this hysterical bollocks. They really think that they won the argument. That deep down the people wanted to vote Corbyn, but because of a conspiracy of billionaire press barons, Laura Kuenssberg (what an alarmingly Jewish name) and the state of Israel, the working classes were prevented from bovinely walking to the polls and doing their sacred duty. And the answer? More of the same. Insane.
Every now and again politicians realise, usually to their discomfort, that unlike some of the loonies who appear on phone ins, the electorate on mass are not stupid. They know what they want. Margaret Thatcher knew how to persuade the masses to vote for her, a mixture of common sense, patriotism and opening up home ownership to everyone. Cummings understood and Isaac Levido kept the message simple and clear. And anyone who went off message or behaved like a dick (good morning Jacob and Priti) were locked in the attic.
So money is going to be thrown into the dead northern towns. Good. It should have been done years ago.
I have always prided myself in being able to second guess prime ministers. With Johnson I find it very difficult. He cannot be pigeon holed. He is neither right nor left, one nation nor Ergonite. He will be anything it is convenient for him to be at any one time. He is the incarnation of Double Speak. Actually, I don’t mean this as a criticism. I have always railed against politicians who look at everything through a doctrinal prism. There will be no Borisism. He is what he is for that moment in time. This is going to be rather tricky for the sycophantic wing of the party. Sometimes words that spill out of the Johnson mouth sound like promises. Don’t fall for that one. Think of them as aspirations. It’s safer. Mr Mak please take note.
The good news is that Dominic Cummings is not the deranged Rasputin as most of us Westminster bubble types thought. He is a radical. He hates the establishment. He hates entitlement. But he has a very good relationship with Mark Sewell. This is encouraging. His job is to keep Johnson interested. To try and persuade him to read his briefs. To keep him on some sort of message. To stop him becoming bored.
And there lies the problem. Johnson gets bored easily. Can he last five years of drudgery? I just don’t know. He is just as likely to jump ship and go on to the lucrative lecture circuit or go and run a titty bar in Bangkok. Or maybe both. Who knows? But it is going to be an interesting ride for all of us.