Wings clipped?

So the Eagle has not yet landed.

There is still - one week after the referendum which provides the ostensible justification for the rebellion of the arrogant and entitled - no declared candidate to stand against Jeremy Corbyn as Leader of the Labour Party.

The plotters - none of whom have the principle or character to have sustained even a fraction of the pressure they have tried to place on Corbyn‎ - cannot really still hope that he will capitulate to their bullying.

They may hope that events (such as the Chief Rabbi's intemperate response to misinterpreted remarks this afternoon) will somehow force Corbyn out. They may think that the observation that there are many vacancies on Labour's front bench may somehow compel a "Jexit" (but then, as Lenin remarked, though not of a shadow cabinet, this may be a case of "better fewer but better.")

The truth is that the anti-Corbyn forces do not yet have a declared candidate because they do not have a worthy candidate. They cannot seriously expect Party members, just as the Chilcot report reminds us of the greatest crime ever committed by our Party in office, to elect to the leadership a supporter of the Iraq war.

The focus of the trade unions must now be upon maximising the participation of our members in a leadership election we did not seek - and Corbyn supporters in each union must be vigilant and vigorous in reminding our colleagues of both our members' support for Jeremy Corbyn and his for them.

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the EE network.