James O'Brien Challenges Caller Who Says Corbyn Has A Clever Approach To Brexit
29 October 2019, 14:36
James O'Brien challenges a caller who says that Jeremy Corbyn is an honest man who has an intellectual approach to Brexit.
The caller Michael says: "Jeremy Corbyn is an honest man and he comes across as an honest man."
James O'Brien asked him if Corbyn was in favour or against the UK's EU membership.
"I would say he's neither in favour nor against it," said Michael.
"Then he's not honest, is he? Because he's pretended to be both," said James.
Michael said Jeremy Corbyn had never professed a love for Europe so "maybe he's been a little bit disingenuous but not dishonest."
"Be quiet, that's the sound of a splitting hair!" joked James.
Michael said Corbyn is doing what all politicians do, to which James said, "but his whole appeal was supposed to be, according to the faithful, that he was nothing like all the other politicians, that he was a refreshing breath of fresh air."
"I look at stills of Boris Johnson and compare them to what would actually be said if it was Ed Milliband, for example," said Michael.
James said he agreed with this: "The bias against Jeremy Corbyn is quite astonishing. For me, it's a bias that applies to any Labour leader you care to mention.
"I spent the first few months of Jeremy Corbyn's Labour leadership being assured by people not only that he was nothing like all other politicians, but also that the abuse he received from the right wing media was unique. And all I can say is have they gone after his dead dad yet?"
James pointed out that Corbyn has already lost one election and failed to oppose the "two worst governments in living memory".
Michael replied that Corbyn closed in to take away the government's majority in Parliament. He said: "From someone that was probably a mediocre backbencher five years ago, he's actually leading the party, closed the polls, got rid of Theresa May's majority in government. To me, he's got form."
"What did he do with that, though?" asked James.
"I think Labour's stance on Brexit has been pretty good and pretty clever," said Michael, saying it's a stance that "anyone right-minded would have."
James O'Brien said he disagrees and doesn't even know what Corbyn's stance is on Brexit.
"2009 he called the EU a military Frankenstein," said James and continued: "when you are in permanent crisis, there's no such thing as crisis. It's assault upon objective truth. I'm, afraid I see Corbyn as part of that, not as the solution to it."
