[Philip Marlow]

It’s like a cuddlier version of that story about Lenin walking with Maria Essen in the majesty of the mountains of Switzerland, only for her to catch him glaring into the distance and muttering oaths about the Mensheviks.

P.S. I can’t say the anecdote in question immediately led me to the thoughts of Abbott and Corbyn fucking against a grave, or how disgusting a sight that would be, but I’ll allow that my ‘dreariest cunt in the saloon bar’ act has been neglected of late and consequently may need work.

[Abernathy]

I’ll allow that my ‘dreariest cunt in the saloon bar’ act has been neglected of late and consequently may need work.

Oh, I dunno. I’d say it was already pretty well-honed.

[Crabcakes]

I’ve got an alternate take. Corbyn is so absolutely, joylessly up himself it is 100% true to form for him to take a girlfriend on a date to see Marx’s grave for the benefit of being able to tell peers that he took his girlfriend on a date to Marx’s grave.

It’s the same reason as why he can’t resist those photo shoots with questionable characters or those awkward endorsements of things that later turn out much to his surprise to be blatantly antisemitic. He doesn’t think about what it means, he just likes the way it makes him look to certain people.

[Youngian]

[Philip Marlow]

I’ve got an alternate take. Corbyn is so absolutely, joylessly up himself it is 100% true to form for him to take a girlfriend on a date to see Marx’s grave for the benefit of being able to tell peers that he took his girlfriend on a date to Marx’s grave.

I suspect Abbott is very used to other people explaining to her how the events of her own life ought properly to be interpreted, but I read the tone of that story as very much affectionately exasperated ‘Oh for the love of…’ and the fact that they’re still friends lo these many decades later would seem to support that. Honestly, I only shared the damn thing because it was nice, for once, to see ‘Dianne Abbott’ trending for reasons not immediately related to blatant racism or people calling her thick.

Anyway, there’s an interview with Gary Younge in the Guardian which suggests that she may well be standing down at the next election in any case. And this train of thought struck me as interesting…

https://amp.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... t-bullying

“Race and feminism were the two main strands of my politics. And it seemed the Labour party was potentially a way of progressing those issues. It wasn’t the most obvious choice if you considered yourself a radical Black person, even then. And remember this was during the ascendancy of Tony Benn. So the idea you could move the party leftwards, it seemed within reach.”

This bears out stuff I’ve read elsewhere about her actually being considered a sellout in certain quarters - at least back then - for going into mainstream party politics at all. She’s also mentioned Corbyn as playing a significant part in persuading her to do so, just in case people were looking for something else to curse his name for.

Final thought: the mention of Tony Benn did make me think - however little influence she now has over the direction of the Labour Party, she’s never going to attain the sort of national treasure status that he experienced as a kind of entombment sometimes. But then, she was never going to be able to play to the tea-sipping, pipe-smoking, rather endearing Wodehousian archetype he could portray so effortlessly when he wanted to.

Final final thought (promise): given all the drama over the Gaza independents (I think I’ve seen more of Ashcroft over the last few weeks than I did during the last few years) I think this bit might be worth giving due consideration.

“For a long time Labour essentially had a client relationship with minority communities,” Abbott says. “But different generations have come through and a lot of them think, ‘What is this? I’m not your faithful follower.’ The younger generations are more sceptical and I think Labour are in danger, and have been for some time, in taking them for granted.”