Gosh.

I worked in three different secondary schools as a teacher over many years. I was unfortunate to have never worked under a strong headteacher. The upshot was the same in every case: the middle orders in the staffroom always developed into a sort of local mafia who ended up sowing discord as they tried to run the show.

I've been saying ever since he was elected that Starmer was a rotten choice. He is determined to marginalise the left, whilst at the same time proving to be completely ineffective as an opponent of the worst prime minister this country has ever had. What I saw in my schools is what's happening in the Labour Party. A weak leader leaving a vacuum for ne'er-do-wells from both factions scrapping it out, fully in the public gaze. We can all decide for ourselves which faction has the right of it (I know what I think). But the problem is the leader, one hundred percent. The antisemitism business is confected, and Jeremy's removal was confected. Starmer has deliberately injected poison and he is reaping a whirlwind because, basically, he's no leader.

By the way, just down the road from my school in east London Mrs Steve was teaching in a large primary school in Stepney, run by a headteacher who espoused inclusiveness, respect, vision and strength. She's now in her 80s, she's one of our dearest friends and she has the Freedom of the City of London. I was always jealous of the missus...