Robbins trip to the Palace postponed – again!

Our man with a finger on Council Leader Chris Robbins’ pulse reports as follows:

‘When some weeks ago Chris Robbins put his name to a petition got up by Labour councillors calling on Jeremy Corbyn to resign, he must have thought it was only a matter of time before the Labour Leader was toast, and, with a replacement appointed, his own quest for honours would be back on track.

Subsequently, his hopes no doubt rose further because the emerging challenger, Owen Smith, seemed to share Robbins’ flexible approach to politics, selling himself as a lefty in the hope of impressing the Corbynistas who have taken over the Labour Party, whilst downplaying his previous employment as a corporate lobbyist and fan of Tony Blair. Like Robbins, his overriding philosophy sometimes appeared to be most about the advancement of himself.

However, now that the re-election of Corbyn is looking all but certain, Robbins heart must be sinking, particularly as the BBC quotes the bearded one as saying: “I do not believe in honours for politicians who are in office because I believe to be in office, to be elected, to be in Parliament, to account to everyone else, is honour itself”. How Robbins must long for a Labour Leader with the same casual approach to honours as David Cameron, a man who has no problem proposing an OBE for Sam Cam’s taxpayer-funded stylist, and given the chance, no doubt something too for Larry, the No.10 cat.

Meanwhile, Town Hall insiders continue to despair that while Robbins comes alive when discussing plaques with his name on, family fun days, and Union flags on every public building, he ostensibly shows less enthusiasm for anything else.

Yet with the Corbyn ascendancy still to peak, it looks like this situation is unlikely to be resolved any time soon’.

PS A favourite picture of the man himself (back right) in happier days…