If Corbyn won't employ a spin doctor, he at least needs to hire a competent press officer

You cannot work for a party’s press operation and not have your fair share of disasters. During my time working for the Liberal Democrats, our party leader pontificated about his colleagues on a plane, made the odd unfortunate sartorial decision (the ‘double-fleece look’ being the example that aroused the most incredulity in the office) and there were gaffes, snubs, rows and all the other unfortunate moments that cause former press officers to shake their heads and write smug blogs saying it was all much smoother in their day.

These things happen in politics, and when the media has tasted blood, there is often nothing you can do. But I have never seen such a concentrated period of haplessness as we have at the start of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership. This isn’t about policy or politics, this is the basic stuff of looking efficient: announce news in good time, don’t pull out of interviews at the last minute, don’t abandon the leader in the street to cameras, don’t leave out bits of the speech you have already given to journalists, make sure hacks aren’t listening to your meeting, the list goes on.