'Corbyn's Message Has Power, He Doesn't'
6 May 2016, 11:27 | Updated: 26 August 2016, 10:34
James O'Brien says that the election results prove that the Tories might have 99 problems - but Jeremy Corbyn isn't one of them.
James opened his show today by reflecting that Corbyn had experienced neither the sweeping success his fans had predicted nor the crushing defeat his critics had hoped for.
So where does that leave the Labour leader?
"The message that Corbyn has, about what earlier callers have referred to, the idea that there should be a meaningful opposition to austerity.
"The idea that this government could be held to account on all sorts of policies, whether it be the enforced academisation of schools, whether it be the imposition of a junior doctors contract, whether it be u-turns and wibbles and a failure if you like of moral leadership on the issue of child refugees, whatever it may be.
"The message he represents might be powerful, indeed could be powerful, but isn't powerful when he's delivering it.
James continued: "This is not personal, this is not political, this is simply observational. These messages should carry more weight than they do.
"This country should have representation of all the positions that Corbyn's fans espouse.
"A lot of people, unimpressed by Corbyn, support similar mesages.
"But you can't, can you, look me in the eye and tell me that he's the man to do it.
"Can you?"
James then turned to how Ed Miliband's time in charge of the party had led to a "hangover" for Corbyn.
"People crossed their fingers, hoped for the best and gave [Miliband] the benefit of the doubt for his entire leadership period.
"All the wobbles. I found some of them quite endearing, quite human.
"But you're just waiting for that sprint finish...and boom, it never happened."
