Woeful wannabes

THE abject political pygmies vying to become the new Labour leader gravely intone that they must be honest about the reason the party suffered electoral annihilation. Yet in the same breath they lie to themselves. Terrified of infuriating the members, who

still fawningly regard Jeremy Corbyn as a messiah, the wannabes insist the Marxist terror sympathiser was not responsible for the crushing defeat.

Take Rebecca Long-Bailey, who exalts his hard-Left manifesto – even though it received a resounding thumbs down from voters. Bewilderingly, she’d give him a top job if she wins.

Or millionaire QC Sir Keir Starmer, who says the electorate was duped into rejecting Corbyn’s ruinous Venezuelan- style economics by a malevolent media.

And what about so-called moderate Lisa Nandy? She won’t hear a word said against the toxic Trot.

After a post-mortem so brief you’d miss it, they have singularly failed to learn any lessons from Labour’s obliteration. Obsessed with class war and trendy concerns, they are spectacularly out of sync with the aspirational working and middle-class.

‘We must reconnect with voters,’ beseech the candidates. Then they bang on about transgender rights (a subject of microscopic interest for 99.99 per cent of the population).

This paper believes in a strong opposition holding ministers to account. Judging by this woeful lot, we might be waiting an eternity. ÷NOT

only could HS2 revolutionise the country, it also presents a glorious opportunity to revitalise UK industry – once the envy of the world. So we believe it is essential it is built, primarily, by British firms, using British steel and British workers. Unshackled by Brexit from stifling EU competition rules, this could give our ailing steel business a much-needed shot in the arm. And if this project sparks a renaissance in manufacturing and engineering, perhaps the immense cost can be defended.