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Is the dream over? Team Corbyn gives Jeremy’s economic guru the ‘cold shoulder’

Back in August — after much anticipation — Jeremy Corbyn finally revealed some of his economic policies to the world. His policies — also known as ‘Corbynomics’ — took inspiration from the tax expert Richard Murphy’s blog.

While several of the ideas — which included reclaiming the £120bn ‘tax gap’ and quantitative easing — were described as ‘starry-eyed, hard left’ policies by Labour’s Chris Leslie, Corbyn was not put off. The Labour leader invited Murphy — who is not a party member — to Labour conference. In fact, Murphy even thought at one point that he was in line for a role in the Labour Treasury team.

Alas the dream appears to have come to an abrupt end. Murphy has revealed that he has grown distant from the Labour leader after no formal offer ever materialised — and he went cold on the idea of having a small background role; ‘Am I temperamentally suited to being the behind-the-scenes guy who isn’t noticed in public? Probably not.’ He

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Steerpike
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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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