The key to understanding Corbyn is moral absolutism. Remember, it’s part of his appeal: he’s unchanging, incorruptible (which = trust). But it explains why he will not take easy political decisions, like apologising. It’s because he doesn’t believe he’s done anything wrong 1/5
I once asked a very close ally the difference between Corbyn and McDonnell. The answer: John is more ideological, but more flexible. Jeremy is less ideological, but more rigid. This, I think, is the absolute, irreducible core of Corbyn 2/5
Corbyn did not, as I understand it, get caught up in the internecine Marxist struggles of the 1970s (stalinists, trots etc). He cared less about Marxist purism. It was *ethical* purism which drove him. “He’s an ethical socialist,” one close ally told me 3/5
In some ways, I think the closest parallel is to religion. If Corbyn believes it is a moral question, he is absolute, unbending, resolute, no matter the political cost. He believes in his cause and will die for it, politically, if necessary 4/5
It explains the anti-Semitism crisis and foreign policy, but also the Waspi women answer: he said it was a moral question. Once it is a moral question, the practical question is entirely secondary to Corbyn. Again, this is part of his appeal so shouldn’t be dismissed easily 5/end
