Reheated gruel that should tempt no one

THOSE who hoped to see Jeremy Corbyn fall flat on his face – and there were plenty, both inside and outside his party – were in for a disappointment.

For though much of what he said turns out to have been lifted from a 30-year-old speech unused by his predecessors (so much for his ‘new kind of politics’!), this was no ed miliband-style car crash.

On the contrary, in his first conference speech as Labour leader, the hard Leftwinger pressed all the right buttons to earn himself a warm standing ovation from his party faithful.

But then this was a performance strictly for those in the hall, with barely a thought given to the millions of disaffected voters the party must win round if it is to have any hope of regaining power.

To his credit, mr Corbyn dispensed with the toe-curling ritual of past years, when his predecessors would summon their wives to the stage for an adoring kiss.

After more than a decade, it was also refreshing to hear the admission from a Labour leader: ‘It didn’t help our national security when we went to war with Iraq, in defiance of the United Nations and on a false prospectus.’

But that said, this was a waffling speech, serving up a hand- me- down, 1980s mixture of routine Tory-bashing, sneers at the Press and attacks on injustice, inequality and privilege. While this may have gone down well with the unions and party activists, who can’t get enough of such a diet, it was the thinnest of gruel for voters looking for solid reasons to switch back to Labour.

In truth, mr Corbyn’s speech was less remarkable for what he said than for what he failed to say.

He dwelt at length on the ‘political earthquake’ of his election as leader and the 160,000 supporters who have signed up to Labour since the summer. But he made no mention of the far greater earthquake in may, when voters in their millions rejected his party as utterly unconvincing and too Left-wing.

Nor did he have anything to say about mass immigration – the number one concern for most Britons. Nothing, that is, apart from attacking the Government for accepting too few refugees.

Taking another leaf from the hapless mr miliband’s book, he also failed to mention the deficit (except when he condemned the Tories, without conscious irony, for borrowing £100billion last year).

Indeed, mr Corbyn spoke as if limitless public money were available to reverse all welfare cuts, nationalise the railways, expand broadband and renewable energy, extend state maternity and paternity pay to the self-employed, increase doctors’ pay, abolish tuition fees and build 100,000 low-rent homes a year.

His shopping list was endless. But then, in the fantasy world of Corbynomics, he appeared to believe that the more taxpayers’ money a government spends, the more quickly it will be able to pay off its debts!

As for Labour’s shell-shocked MPS, who will have to sell their party’s programme to the electorate, they were content yesterday to let their new leader enjoy his applause.

But we suspect they are not fooled by his conciliatory praise for his leadership rivals or his promises to listen to those who disagree with him (while his storm troopers plan to purge the moderates by packing Constituency Labour Parties). yesterday, even if he espoused kindergarten economics, the wolf may have donned sheep’s clothing, posing as a caring, reasonable fellow who loves his country and just wants a little more kindness and fairness in this world.

But these are early days. Over the four years before the election, the fleece will come off, the fangs will come out – and the battle for the soul of the Labour Party will begin in earnest.