Inside the first Corbynite International

Jeremy Corbyn launched his ‘Project for Peace and Justice’ on Sunday with a Zoom conference featuring a starry panel of left-wing activists. The online format is a weak and feeble beast compared with a live rally. You miss the crackle and excitement in the air. You long for the cheers and whoops of a properly pumped-up crowd. Instead we got the beaming face of Baroness Blower, a former teacher, who introduced the participants from a desk in her sitting room. After each speech she offered sugary compliments like a kindly aunt feigning wide-eyed surprise while opening her birthday presents.

‘That was absolutely fantastic,’ she said as Scarlett Westbrook finished the opening contribution. Ms Westbrook is a rabble-rouser-on-the-make who has spotted an opportunity. Greta Thunberg, the truancy expert and international yachtswoman, can only sail to one climate panic conference at a time. This leaves room for a doppelganger to promote the brand of doom.