Back in July I wrote a piece predicting Jeremy Corbyn's suitability as Labour's future leader.
In this follow up article, I want to clarify the position of Corbyn and try to unpick the media's supposed obsession with his un-electability as a future Prime Minister. And before you ask, I am not a Labour voter.
Why are the press desperate to take him down with sensationalised stories about diplomatic meetings with enemies of the state? Why have some former New Labour MP's refused to support him, even choosing to leave Conference before his leaders speech?
Why is the media so afraid of Corbyn?...
Because he's the real deal.
Jeremy Corbyn isn't Ed Miliband, he isn't Brown, Blair or Kinnock for that matter. He isn't obsessed with power, success or money. His chances of winning a general election are, at this stage, slim but more importantly irrelevant. Instead, Jeremy Corbyn is the enabler. His role, as I see it, is to mobilise a generation of activists. Not unwashed, uncouth, ready to be kettled protesters, but ordinary gentle people who have felt ignored, undermined and let down buy successive leaders, on both sides of the house. The revolution has already begun.
Until now politics was just showbiz for ugly people. Some pretended they cared, gave the impression they worked hard, acted like they had authority. In reality they worked when it suited them, posed for set up photographs and claimed excessive expenses.
Having walked the corridors of Parliament myself and interviewed dozens of politicians on the radio, I know first hand that much of it is just for show. It's role play for ego maniacs. When the division bell goes, they run to vote for what the Whip suggests. Their compliance maintains the status quo. It gives the impression of order. It is the invisibility cloak of democracy.
BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg chose not to notice the power Corbyn has unwittingly wielded outside of the party, just for being himself. In her 10 o'clock news report last night she acknowledged the excitement inside the Labour conference, but didn't dare venture outside, just in case ordinary people might actually be in support of him. That might unbalance her piece, so best stay indoors. Why let the truth get in the way of a good story?
There's been a social shift. Thousands of ordinary non-activist people joined the Labour party in recent weeks just so they could vote for him. They felt he spoke to them, he listened, he cares.
Old school journalists are looking in the wrong places for reaction. We don't care what Peter Mandelson thinks of him. Mandy has no power, the people do. The news media seem obsessed with disunity in the Labour party. Like that's the story? The story should be the greatest public engagement with politics since the war. But no...
Sometime journalist Michael Crick has become an embarrassment to Channel 4 News since trying unsuccessfully to implicate Corbyn outside his own home in an assault on a BBC cameraman. In fact, a taxi driver merely pushed the guy out of the way and he hit the deck. But why did Crick go to such lengths to nail Corbyn for this minor incident when it clearly had nothing to do with him? Why did he travel to the hospital and tweet photos of the cameraman in a neck brace? It's all smells a bit too fishy.
Corbyn hasn't changed his story for 30 years. He's been a consistent backbench anti-war, socialist campaigner whose not afraid to voice his opinion. He's been cast aside by the mainstream party and the mainstream media for not towing the line. An outsider, with more experience of the real world than most.
And this is why the politicos and journos are trying so hard to bring him down. Because they're scared. No, not scared of him, but of what he is capable of. They are scared of the people. 45 million floating voters are too many to control, even for the mighty media with their newspapers, news channels, correspondents, pollsters, and social media manipulators. If the truth gets out, the balance of power could shift.
The Powers That Be have, for decades, enjoyed control of a two horse identikit political race. The Lib Dems were a distraction, the SNP could be ignored, but now their precious Labour Party has been infiltrated by an outsider. A man who isn't on the media payroll, who doesn't answer to doorstepping reporters. A member of parliament living up to his responsibilities, who reports directly to the people.
This is why the BBC don't know what they are reporting on. Corbyn doesn't fit their running order. He turned down the Andrew Marr Show to attend the Camden & Islington NHS Mental Health Trust's Fun Day. That must be a political first?! Of course the newspapers spun it as him being an irresponsible leader.
They stoop so low as to criticise his clothes, his hair, his beard. They've run out of ideas. Stopping short of an assassination (or political overthrowing) the establishment are left high and dry. Many former New Labour stalwarts are waiting in the wings to return to the front bench after Corbyn's expected downfall.
They may have a very long wait. Thanks to social media, voters don't just rely on old fashioned newspapers to get their news, or to be told what to think. In fact, the more the media attack, the stronger #Corbynmania will become.
It doesn't matter if Jeremy Corbyn is elected as the Prime Minister or not in five years time. It's all about now. It's about strong opposition to the Tory myth of austerity, of bombing Syria, of the 'deficit'.
It's about opening our eyes to the truth. The people will do the rest.