Londoner's Diary: ‘Jez we can’ is lost on his old pal

(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images
Getty Images
10 February 2017

HEARTS will break across Islington today after Greek finance stud Yanis Varoufakis, pictured, confessed that he doesn’t think his old friend Jeremy Corbyn is on the path to electoral success. “The chances that he will become prime minister any time soon are slim,” were the devastating words from the rock-star economist. Speaking to Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan yesterday, Corbyn’s one-time adviser pointed to “deep divisions within the Labour Party”. Et tu, Yanis?

As with so many break-ups, the early signs were there. In March last year, Varoufakis appeared to distance himself from holding an official role with Corbyn. “I’m a full-time active politician. As such, I could not be advising another politician,” the former finance minister told CNBC. “So I am talking to Jeremy Corbyn because he talks to me.” Something of a one-sided relationship, then.

He’s not the first economic adviser to abandon Corbyn, with Danny Blanchflower accusing the Labour leader of playing “idiotic games” in the aftermath of the EU vote, and five more of his advisers publishing an open letter accusing the leader of not campaigning strongly enough during the referendum. The heady early days of the Varoufakis/Labour Party romance seem a long way off. Will we ever see the two astride a stage to rapturous applause again?

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