There was always something of the vicar about Jeremy Corbyn. He was too nice to people he should have been getting rid of, like most of the Labour Party staff members he inherited and a couple of bus loads of the MPs who made it their full time job to wreck his leadership.

In this piece from almost exactly five years ago I suggested that he harness his inner vicar and take the advice offered in Matthew 10:35 “to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law”.

Well, there is no doubt that he has done that, albeit in entirely the wrong way at the wrong time. Rather than declare war against the enemy when it might have been useful in smashing up the right, Corbyn, in a strategic masterstroke worthy of an Italian general in 1941, has launched salvos of missiles against his own side with the intention of wiping out his most capable collaborator while preserving his alliances with a bunch of less dynamic and creative men. This is always a seriously daft thing to do at the best of times but doing it less than a week after the biggest fascist led mobilisation in British history is unforgivably stupid.

Zarah Sultana is demonstrating a much surer grasp of the new situation than Corbyn and the coterie of MPs, schemers and bureaucrats he has gathered around him. In her statement she names individuals, but much more importantly she offers a criticism of a political method. She talks of cliques suppressing dissenting views and a culture of sexism. The fact that the statement contradicting her was signed by a group of middle aged and elderly men rather bears out what she says. It was apparent in Your Party’s approach to the Greens that a culture of bureaucratic sectarianism had already been established and Sultana is now trying to fight it. Even the proposed method of selecting a large proportion of conference delegates seems constructed to ensure that no serious opposition can be offered to the leadership group which has already coalesced.

Rather than calm things down Corbyn talked of a “false membership system” that collected money and data without authorisation.” He confirmed the party had referred the matter to the ICO and urged supporters to ignore an earlier email requesting funds and cancel any payments.” It seems that he has really taken to heart Brendan Behan’s observation that the first item on the agenda of any new Irish republican organisation is a split. He has taken the idea to an absurd extreme by not even waiting till the organisation is established before trying to wreck it.

As we are reminded in Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”. I think we have reached a point where all the Corbyn nostalgists need to look at what is needed in the new situation. As a public figurehead able to draw a crowd and leave them with a warm glow of love and benevolence, Corbyn is excellent. As a leader of a political party which needs to be battle ready before the next general election he is becoming reminiscent of Sebastiano Prasca, arguably the most incompetent Italian general of WW2.

It is beyond horrific that Your Party is being destroyed by a complacent section of its own leadership. Those of us who wish it well will have to hope that it is Zarah Sultana’s side which wins the argument as she represents a new generation which has a sense of urgency.

And I say unto you:

“A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;  A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;  A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance. “