DAY HE HAD AN OPEN GOAL - AND MISSED

WiTH the Prime Minister facing a potentially career-ending revolt by Tory rebels, Jeremy Corbyn couldn’t fail to hit the target – even considering how cackhanded he often is.

But within hours of enjoying his greatest Commons triumph, the Labour leader was humiliated.

Corbyn had been offered an open goal when Phillip Lee MP defected from the Tories to the Lib Dems, thus erasing the Government’s Commons majority.

The Opposition leader pounced and snarled at Johnson, saying he had ‘no mandate, no morals and, as of today, no majority’.

By Corbyn’s normal standards, this was a good performance. Not blinding oratory, but it reduced Tory MPs to near silence.

He was also eloquent in his attack on Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament, calling it ‘unprecedented, antidemocratic and unconstitutional’.

And he neatly deflected the PM’s claim that those trying to delay Brexit were voting for ‘Jeremy Corbyn’s surrender Bill’.

Thinking quickly on his feet – a skill i thought he didn’t possess – Corbyn averred that the word ‘surrender’ had been misused, given that Britain is not at war with other EU countries.

But shortly afterwards, the Labour leader plunged into trouble. His Chief Whip, Nick Brown, emerged from a meeting of the parliamentary party and announced Labour would not back moves to call a general election.

THis decision was popular with many Labour supporters who fear that a general election would mean disaster for them since they are trailing in the opinion polls.

Yesterday, one suggested the Tories were in the lead with 33 per cent of the vote, with Labour on 22 per cent.

But the climbdown over an election was ignominious for Corbyn. He has been calling for one on a daily basis ever since he lost the last one in 2017, having performed much more strongly than expected and destroying Theresa May’s Commons majority.

As the sun rises each morning, so Corbyn has mouthed the mantra every day that Britain ‘needs’ a general election. Only two days ago, he told supporters in salford that Labour ‘will be delighted’ to fight a general election – and would win.

Yesterday, that chance was offered to him on a plate by the Tories – and he seemed to turn it down.

i’m convinced that he’ll pay a high price for going back on his word. Voters never like politicians who say one thing and do something else.

The fact is that Corbyn has so little control of his own party that he can be pushed around. Crucially, his party remains deeply divided over Brexit. On

the one hand, there are those around Corbyn who are determined to take advantage of the Government’s weakness to press for a general election, confident that they would win. They would then put into effect the full-blooded socialist programme that Corbyn has advocated all of his political life.

According to an analysis by the Financial Times, those plans include at least £26billion in new tax rises, confiscating around £300billion of shares from companies and, in an unprecedented assault on Britain’s private sectors, forcing buy-to-let property owners to sell to tenants at a price fixed by a government agency.

But on the other hand, there are those in Corbyn’s bitterly divided party who want to wait and see it focus on blocking Johnson’s plan for No Deal.

These include remnants of what used to be known as New Labour, such as Brexit spokesman sir Keir starmer and deputy leader Tom Watson.

Meanwhile, a consistently unhelpful presence is that of Tony Blair, who also warns against calling for a general election as he believes Corbyn would lose. in any case, Blair sees the campaign for a second EU referendum as the priority.

Despite being leader for four years, Corbyn has failed to unite both these sides.

Above all, his problem is that, at heart, he has always been suspicious of the EU and voted to revoke Britain’s membership of what was then the European Economic Community in 1975.

Corbyn knows he cannot achieve his dream of creating a socialist Britain while we belong to the EU.

HE is also acutely aware that many Labour MPs, especially in northern English constituencies, represent areas where there is strong support for Brexit. He rightly fears that those MPs face a wipeout at an election if Labour backs Remain unequivocally.

Corbyn’s prime mistake has been to try to appeal to both sides of his party.

inevitably, this has meant weak leadership and has seen him repeatedly change his

position on Brexit. This risible policy of ‘constructive ambiguity’ has been nothing less than a cynical unwillingness to get off the fence so as to try to please both sides of the Brexit argument.

Opinion polls suggest that Corbyn is paying a heavy price for this cautious attitude, with many Remainers who have traditionally voted Labour defecting to the Lib Dems or the Greens.

By contrast, Boris Johnson has taken a clear and single line on the issue – and has been prepared to risk splitting his party as a result.

His strategy is to rally all Brexiteers behind his own party, including, he hopes, many Labour voters.

Now, belatedly aware of the potential damage to his chances of becoming prime minister, Corbyn endeavoured to unite his Labour MPs behind him and take advantage of Boris Johnson’s growing problems.

He aims to bring together all Remainer MPs into a crossparty coalition.

He has even reached out to Tory rebels, praising their ‘political courage’ amid ‘bullying and threats’. He has met senior figures from Labour, the sNP, Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party.

Feeling less isolated than he did last week, Corbyn is convinced he can stop No Deal and get a general election.

But his track record suggests he will fail.

Nonetheless, this is Corbyn’s final chance to show he has the mettle to be prime minister.