Corbyn fails the test

This time next week, it is possible that the impending political crisis will have brought down the Prime Minister and her Government, threatening a general election. Usually in such circumstances, the main opposition party is led by a politician of experience and substance ready to step into the role of head of government should the need arise.

Instead, we have Jeremy Corbyn, a man who never really wanted to be leader of his own party, let alone prime minister. Indeed, his own MPS did not want him to be their leader either but were stuck with him when he was re-elected by the largely Left-wing membership.

In the House of Commons yesterday, Mr Corbyn again demonstrated why he does not possess the capacity or the skills to be prime minister. With Theresa May reeling from her defeats the previous evening, he chose to ask her a series of questions about poverty that might have gone down well at a socialist rally but sounded fatuous in the context of an unfolding constitutional crisis.

Mr Corbyn has spent his entire political career on the fringes of politics, supporting every loony-left cause, every anti-capitalist movement, and every so-called freedom fighter – and especially those who consider the Americans or the British to be their enemies.

On Brexit he has been content to sow confusion about Labour’s intentions, showing no sign of wishing to develop a coherent policy, and wilfully leaving the country unsure of his true intentions. He espouses a set of economic policies that would bankrupt the nation. Has there ever been an Opposition leader less suited to the task that might lie ahead?