I suppose it couldn’t last. Having spent much of the first two days of the party conference squabbling, rather than enjoying the ongoing Tory crises of fuel shortages and energy price rises, it had seemed that things had become a little more comradely. But late in the afternoon the two tribes went to war again with the unexpected resignation of Andy McDonald as shadow secretary for employment rights. Most people had taken a while to remember that McDonald had actually been in the shadow cabinet. And that included Keir Starmer who – when reminded – sounded almost thrilled that the last Corbynista in his top team had done a runner. It had all been rather confusing. Having spent much of the previous week working on a green paper with Angela Rayner that included raising the minimum wage to £10 an hour – and having campaigned for that in the 2019 general election – McDonald now found himself forced to resign because he had only just realised that his new demand for a £15 minimum wage had been rejected by the party leadership. He also claimed that the party had never been so divided. Memory clearly isn’t one of his strong points. McDonald, along with Jeremy Corbyn, had also been due to speak at a fringe meeting in a nightclub in support of Barry Gardiner’s private member’s bill to stop “fire and rehire” practices the following morning. But half an hour before the event was due to start I was told that Andy had gone back to London. Not that the 100 or so people packed into the venue seemed that bothered by McDonald’s no-show as he had never been the main attraction for them. As Corbyn entered the room, a chorus of “Oh Je-re-my Cor-byn” broke out. It was like being in a time warp: 2019. Or even two years earlier. There are still some members on the left who think that Corbyn actually won the 2017 general election. Corbyn took it all comfortably in his stride. It’s almost as though he’s happiest as the voice of protest rather than having to present himself as a credible party leader who needs to win over half the country. Though he still likes the adulation he gets from his supporters, he never actually much wanted the hassle. Trying to convince people that he was all in favour of a nuclear deterrent, provided submarines didn’t carry any nuclear missiles, was never his strongest point. Now though he is free to do what he likes best: lap up the love, speak from the hip but never be responsible for the outcomes. Having explained at some length why Gardiner’s bill was unlikely to succeed – private members’ bills seldom do – Corbyn effortlessly went on to say he would be giving it his full backing. A beacon of integrity or the patron saint of lost causes, take your pick. At which point a balloon burst in sympathy and a member of the audience asked Jeremy if he would apologise for saying that antisemitism in the Labour party had been overstated. A chorus of boos greeted this question while Corbyn went into his comfort zone of saying he condemned racism in all its forms. Cue loud cheers.
For the most part, though, Corbyn was happy not to make waves. He resisted the opportunity to criticise Starmer directly, while implying that there was almost nothing Keir could say in his conference speech that would properly satisfy him. You can’t live on the margins by embracing the mainstream. Less than an hour later, Corbyn was at another fringe meeting about the war on terror. Yet again he seemed totally in his stress-free place as he covered everything from dodgy dossiers to Palestine and was rewarded with a standing ovation from half the room. A frown crossed his face. Only half? Still, he was asked for a couple of selfies on the way out. Over in the main hall, the conference was pressing on without him. Which was pretty much the way he liked it. If he was on the margins and being ignored, then he must be doing something right.