There is a familiar shape to controversies about Jeremy Corbyn that shows no sign of changing more than two years after he stepped down as leader of the British Labour Party. Corbyn will make a statement that should be as provocative as observing that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Members of the British commentariat will then work themselves into a lather of indignation that he could dare to say such a thing.

Interviewed by a Lebanese broadcaster, Corbyn was asked if the unrelenting campaign of slander directed against him had been linked to his support for Palestine:

I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that my clearly stated support for the rights of the Palestinian people to be able to live in peace, free from occupation, free from being under siege as in Gaza, and for those living in the refugee camps — particularly those in Lebanon but other countries as well — with the right to return, played a factor in all of this.