Keir Starmer’s supporters should not emulate the Corbynites’ nastiness

It’s a truism, but Twitter isn’t real life. The disparity between the conversations of the online extremes, the extremely online and the rest of the country becomes ever clearer.

The last office of the leader of the opposition did not seem to realise this though. It is striking how often in Left Out — the compelling book by Patrick Maguire and Gabriel Pogrund about the Corbyn years — the number of Twitter followers a politician has is mentioned when discussing their potential suitability for a role. These days, you simply cannot see this being a factor in Keir Starmer’s decision-making. He actively avoids commenting on the Twitter drama of the week.