I have been reading and hearing Labour MPs not renown for the their full support in the past for Mr C admitting that they may  have got things wrong (or at least half wrong in the case of  Ms JP) and that they are prepared to play their part in improving relationships within the PLP in order to promote unity.

This is laudable and of course entirely necessary. We can’t just have fun witnessing the Tory implosion (although this is a very welcome diversion indeed), the party must start to provide an effective opposition and keep faith with those who, against the odds, kept faith with it. But ….. it is difficult not to be really pissed off with these people – what might have happened if they had supported the (twice) democratically elected leader of their party? Would the Tories now be facing a different existential crisis without the advantages of power and incumbency?

Then I realised I was being silly. If the PLP had fully supported Mr C and his team it is unlikely that Mrs M would have called a general election – and even more unlikely that the Tories would have used the same narrow diss Mr C strategy. So we might not have known how much actual and potential support there is for an alternative to neo liberal econobollocks and associated social non policy for some while yet. This would have provided the Tories, a party still pulling itself apart over Europe (oh please!), to create unfettered mayhem and badness.

And then it hit me – what if I had completely misread the situation? What if a number of prominent and experienced Labour MPs had pretended not to support Mr C in order to lull Mrs M into an electoral trap of cunning proportions? Maybe they are the real heroes, selflessly trashing their reputations for solidarity and party discipline for the greater good. Poor things, it must have been hard living every day as lie in front of their comrades, their political opponents and the wider public! Well the charade is over now and they must be mightily relieved – they can unambiguously and enthusiastically support Mr C now – can’t they?