Jeremy Corbyn isn’t being dumped by Labour because of anti-Semitism but because he lost two elections as leader - Bill Carmichael

But what they have in common, and what sets them apart from the rest of humanity, is the hungry pursuit of power at any costs, and this often leads to bizarre and sinister behaviour.

Are there many other fields of public life, for example, where two people can declare themselves best mates forever one minute, before gleefully metaphorically sticking a knife between each other’s ribs the next?

Take for example the decision by the Labour Party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) this week to block the former leader, Jeremy Corbyn, from standing as a Labour candidate in the next general election.

Regular readers of this column will know I am no fan of Corbyn, and I predicted more than once, correctly as it turned out, that his elevation to leader in 2015 was an unmitigated disaster for Labour and would lead to inevitable electoral humiliation.

But the very people, including members of the current Shadow Cabinet, who are calling for his banishment from Labour’s parliamentary ranks today, were moronically chanting “Ooooh Jeremy Corbyn” just a few short years ago when they thought the “Magic Grandpa” could miraculously return them to power.

Indeed, Labour’s current leader, Sir Keir Starmer, who proposed this week’s motion to block Corbyn’s candidature, campaigned tirelessly for a Labour victory under Corbyn in 2017 and 2019.

So, a few years ago Starmer wanted Corbyn in Number 10 as Prime Minister, but today he thinks he is unfit to even be a lowly backbench MP.

What changed? One truly shameful event was that in 2020 the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) found Labour guilty of harassment and unlawful discrimination against Jewish members under Corbyn’s leadership.

Indeed, it was Corbyn’s reaction to the publication of this report, in which he stated that the problem of anti-Semitism had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons”, that led to his suspension of the Labour Whip in Parliament. Corbyn has sat as an Independent in the House of Commons ever since, although he is still a member of the Labour Party.

Doing the media rounds on behalf of Labour this week was Shadow Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, who seemed to indicate it was the former leader’s response to the anti-Semitism row that led to the NEC’s decision.

He said Corbyn’s response was “frankly appalling” adding “he has no one to blame but himself”, and “he was given ample time and opportunity to apologise”.

Frankly, this attempt to portray Corbyn’s punishment as a principled stand against racism simply won’t wash for two reasons.

Firstly, at the very height of anti-Semitism crisis in the party, when female Jewish MPs were terrified of attending their own party conference because of violent threats from far left thugs, Starmer was giving Corbyn his unequivocal backing. Anti-Semitism didn’t appear to bother him much then. Secondly, I’ve read the charge sheet against Corbyn presented to the NEC by Starmer, and it makes no reference to anti-Semitism or racism whatsoever.

Instead, it says Labour’s prospects of winning the next general election would be “significantly diminished” and the party’s “political interests” are “not well served” should Corbyn stand as a Labour candidate. In other words this has nothing to do with morality, and everything to do with politics. Or as Michael Corleone says in the film The Godfather, before wacking a couple of enemies: “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.”

Labour can forgive Corbyn for many things, including his appalling record on tolerating anti-Semitism in the party. But what it cannot forgive him for is him delivering the worst election result for Labour since 1935.

Corbyn is not being dumped because he is a bad guy, but because he is a loser - and in politics there is absolutely nothing worse.