Jeremy Corbyn is finally receiving the scrutiny he deserves. On Channel 4 News this evening, the hard-left Labour leader hopeful was quizzed by Krishnan Guru-Murthy on comments about engaging with ‘friends’ in Hamas and Hezbollah over the Middle East conflict. Corbyn refused to apologise for using the word ‘friends’ and snapped several times at Guru-Murthy for not letting him finish a long-winded answer:
‘I’m saying that people I talk to, I use it in a collective way, saying our friends are prepared to talk.
‘Does it mean I agree with Hamas and what it does? No. Does it mean I agree with Hezbollah and what they do? No. What it means is that I think to bring about a peace process, you have to talk to people with whom you may profoundly disagree.
‘There is not going to be a peace proccess unless there is talks involving Israel, Hezbollah and Hamas and I think everyone knows that.’
The clip of the exchange (above) is worth watching, not least for how easily Corbyn is riled by a perfectly acceptable line of questioning. If Corbyn inexplicably wins the Labour leadership contest, television interviews will become tedious. Already, folks of the left on Twitter are pouncing on Channel 4 for so-called ‘tabloid journalism’:
Enjoyed watching Jeremy Corbyn calling out Krishnan Guru Murphy on his shallow line of questioning. Worth catching up on!
— Graham Linehan (@Glinner) July 13, 2015
Well done Krishnan Guru-Murthy on dragging C4 news down to Fox-news standard with your Jeremy Corbyn interview @krishgm @jeremycorbyn
— Andy Carey🌻🏴🇪🇺🌍 (@reptillacus) July 13, 2015
Putting Corbyn on the ballot paper is a decision some in the Labour party are beginning to regret. What was seen as a jolly jape by supporters of Andy Burnham and Yvette Cooper to weasel him into the contest has backfired. Corbyn is judged by some as the second favourite to win the contest, plus he’s got the backing of Len McCluskey and Unite the Union, as well as plenty of support from constituency Labour parties.
And in case you need reminding, Corbyn has some pretty unconventional, distasteful to some, views. As well as inviting Hezbollah to Parliament, this is the man who invited Gerry Adams and members of Sinn Fein to Parliament in 1984, just weeks after the Brighton bombing; the man who has urged for a boycott of Israeli goods as a result of the Gaza conflict and the man who divorced his wife for sending his son to a grammar school.
If Labour wants to head into obscurity for the next decade, Corbyn is their man. But if any more proof was needed, this interview shows again why he is simply not up to the job of leading a serious political party.
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