This month saw the release of Rosa Prince’s biography of Jeremy Corbyn. While Corbyn refused to assist the former Daily Telegraph hack with the unauthorised tome, Prince spoke to a number of his close friends and family for Comrade Corbyn. While the book depicts Corbyn as a kind hard-working man, it also includes a number of previously unpublished stories including the claim that Corbyn ‘showed off‘ a naked Diane Abbott to his Labour friends back in his youth.
However, Corbyn has not taken kindly to Prince’s work. In an interview with the Islington Tribune, Corbyn has hit out at the author, accusing her of a lack of courtesy:
‘I’m pleased she notes my politeness. I wish she had shown the same politeness to me. She might care to adopt that characteristic herself.’
He also claims the book is littered with errors:
‘I’ve seen the book. It’s riddled with inaccuracies. I found 14 in the first eight pages I read. Dates, places, names, people, all things that could have been checked if the research had been done properly.
Also, I think it generally lacks an analysis of the politics of Britain at the time. It’s a disappointing book. She had no approval from me, for the writing of it or approaching people to undertake interviews.’
Alas still no word on whether the Abbott anecdote rings true.
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