I watched Jeremy Corbyn’s victory speech live. I agree with every word he said.

Britain desperately needs an effective opposition to the bunch of incompetents currently making such a mess of running the country. (The economic so-called “recovery” is built on sand and excludes most of us.) There is now a glimmer of hope that the Labour Party will meet that need for a different vision for the country.

The first task is to begin to shift the centre of gravity of the political discourse back to the genuine centre ground. For over thirty years, we have been part of an extremist economic experiment – one which failed seven years ago: a pity that the present government hasn’t noticed yet. The real centre ground in public attitudes lies closer to Jeremy’s views than any other prominent UK politician.

I wish Jeremy and the Labour Party well in their endeavours. They will need an appealing mixture of passion and cool heads to succeed.

Passion

We saw plenty of passion from Jeremy in his speech – the sort of passion that comes from compassion. The energy and enthusiasm of newly joined members – and some returning ones – needs to be turned into an effective campaigning force ready to take on the government. A clear call for inclusiveness and a more consultative style came through also. What a welcome contrast to the various “I speak your weight” measured-soundbite politicians we normally see.

Cool Heads

But there is a need for clear heads as well – for two reasons.

Firstly, cool heads will be needed to deflect the torrent of abuse and misinformation that will now hit the Labour team. The usual hate-filled suspects in the media will already have a drawer-full of “loony-left dangerous comments” made over the past thirty years to throw back at Corbyn – presumably with the usual level of distortion. Tory ministers will make similar claims. Defence Secretary Fallon has already started with a hyperbolic and ludicrous outburst. (If he continues to cry wolf, Fallon will lose any credibility he has with the British public and his foreign counterparts. That won’t do a lot for Britain’s standing in the world.) Expect some very dirty tricks indeed.

Secondly, cool heads will be needed from suitably qualified experts to help flesh out an economic policy to give voters a credible alternative to the failed current austerity dogma. There is a credible alternative path to take – I just haven’t seen it fully worked through yet.

Tom Watson has shown himself to be grounded, resourceful and brave and will be a useful Deputy Leader with complementary strengths to his new leader.

I’m feeling optimistic right now. Time will tell. Good luck! – we need some hope for the future.