25 March 2016

On Corbyn's loyalty lists


Without a smidgen of understanding in British internal politics, I was quite shocked reading this:
Jeremy Corbyn's allies* have drawn up a list showing which MPs are most and least loyal to the Labour leadership, according to a document leaked to The Times.

The spreadsheet divides Labour's 230 MPs into five categories, ranging from "Core", the 19 in Corbyn's inner circle, to "Hostile", made up of 36 politicians presumably deemed least likely to support the leadership.
I bet the younger generation of British public doesn't respond like I at all, but to me the mere idea of sorting one's political allies by loyalty smells very strongly of the old times Kremlin sulphur. I can see in my mind a certain Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili aka Koba, strolling along the rug of his office, smoking his pipe, held in his lame hand, thoughtfully studying the list of his Politburo colleagues and sorting them out for the next round of purges.

We know how it usually ended then. We also know how it started.

Or do we?

(*) Of course, the denial came quick:
A spokesman for Corbyn said of the document: "It doesn't come from this office and we have no knowledge of it."
Sure, baby, sure. Duly noted.

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