The question Labour moderates must ask themselves

A question for Labour’s moderates, however we define the term and assuming they are still sizeable enough to merit the plural: Do you want to see Jeremy Corbyn become Prime Minister?

Specifically, do you think he possesses the character and temperament of a national leader? Does the prospect of a Corbyn-led Labour government fill you with hope? I’m not asking how you’d feel finally to be rid of this hopeless government, with its prodigious incompetences and petty cruelties. I’m not asking about the Labour Party in your heart but about the one out here, in the world, standing before the voters. That is Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party and it is the only one on offer. Do you want this Labour Party to come to power?

Answering is not easy but your response is important. Does the prospect fill you with gloom? Do you fear for the impact on economic stability and national security? Do you worry what sinister ideologues would be unleashed on the apparatus of the state and what these men and women, few among them respecters of liberal and democratic values, would do with their newfound power? Do you wonder how British Jews would feel? Are you prepared, mentally, for the sight of some of them climbing aboard Nefesh B’Nefesh flights to make new, safer lives in Israel? 

If you are feeling uneasy at this point, that’s understandable, but isn’t it time you did something about it? The common response from moderates is: ‘It’s still our party.