Corbyn verdict: Leader fails to connect with those beyond Labour bubble

LABOUR leader Jeremy Corbyn is probably right when he says that the majority of Britons share his desire for a kinder brand of politics and a more caring society.

The question is whether they agree with his vision of how best to create them.

Disappointingly, in his maiden conference speech as leader yesterday, Mr Corbyn mostly trod old ground. He reiterated the principles that saw him receive a resounding mandate in the party’s leadership election from both disillusioned Labour diehards and activists brought in from the cold.

Watch in full: Corbyn promises ‘unapologetic’ challenge to austerity

Yet this alone is not sufficient to convince the public at large that he has the makings of a successful Prime Minister. It is one thing to preach to the converted, but Mr Corbyn showed a reluctance to try to sway the wider electorate.

Yes, many may well agree with his wish to renationalise the railways, create a proper living wage and build more homes. However, as has so often been the failing of left-wing politics, there was scant recognition of the fact that this must all be paid for.

Fiscal responsibility is of paramount importance to a public fast approaching a lost decade of stagnant wages and public sector cuts. But if they could not bring themselves to trust Ed Miliband, how can the people place their faith in a man who did not see fit to mention the overwhelming need to balance the books?

And that was not the only area of policy – vague as much of it was – where Mr Corbyn left himself open to difficult questions.

His vow that a Labour government would build 100,000 new homes a year might be laudable if it were not for the fact that housebuilding ground to a standstill the last time his party was in power.

Rousing though it was, his mantra that no one should “take what they are given” could be answered by the Conservatives that they are the true party of aspiration – one that does not believe in heaping further taxation on the squeezed middle classes.

As well as Mr Corbyn’s speech played to the hall, he must do far better if he is to truly connect with those outside the Labour bubble who hanker for the new breed of politics he claims to represent.