Alex Massie Alex Massie

Exclusive: ‘unspun’ Jeremy Corbyn used an old speech rejected by Miliband

On its own terms, I imagine Jeremy Corbyn’s speech to the Labour conference can be considered tolerably acceptable. Much of it, after all, consisted of time-served bromides with which almost no-one could reasonably disagree. It was a Marx and apple-pie speech that omitted most of Marx. And who dislikes pie? Nevertheless, what was new was not good and what was good was not new. Much of it, actually, was not new at all. I can disclose that a significant chunk of Corbyn’s speech was, in its essentials, written many years ago. Not by Corbyn, of course, but by the writer Richard Heller. Mr Heller (with whom I should say I have played cricket in the past) has been offering his speech to various Labour leaders since the days of Neil Kinnock. Four years ago, he offered Ed Miliband this unsolicited advice. As best I can tell, Miliband ignored him – as previous Labour leaders had. So Heller posted his words on his website, a well of leftie rhetoric free to anyone who may want to use it.  It seems that Corbyn (or his speechwriters) have been happy to draw upon this well. Let’s compare and contrast this speech with Heller’s words from four years ago (emphasis added). To wit, Corbyn said this afternoon:

Since the dawn of history in virtually every human society there are some people who are given a great deal and many more people who are given little or nothing.  Some people have property and power, class and capital, status and clout which are denied to the many.   And time and time again, the people who receive a great deal tell the many to be grateful to be given anything at all. They say that the world cannot be changed and the many must accept the terms on which they are allowed to live in it.

And Heller said:

Since the dawn of history, in virtually every human society there are some people who are given a great deal and many more people who are given little or nothing.

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