Congratulations, Labour – you just wrecked your own party and disenfranchised your members for no reason at all

I'm no Corbynista, but even I can see this is absurd. What was the point in this charade, considering it can’t have actually secured a victory for Owen Smith? The only reasonable consequence is that Corbyn will win again, by a slightly reduced margin

Jeremy Corbyn debates with Owen Smith in front of an audience of party members at the second Labour leadership debate (Getty)

Labour’s win in the Court of Appeal, ruling in favour of blocking the 130,000 supporters who have joined Labour since January, is the final kiss of death for the Party. Yes, the NEC has regained control of the party regulations and undermined Jeremy Corbyn’s authority somewhat, but they have effectively poured petrol onto an already out-of-control bonfire. What was the point in this charade, considering it can’t have actually secured a victory for Owen Smith? The only reasonable consequence is that Corbyn will win again, by a slightly reduced margin.

To add insult to injury, the five members who fought against the ruling now have to cough up £30,000 in legal fees within 28 days. I can’t imagine they’re going to be over the moon about that.

The members who have joined since January are going to be royally pissed off – they have been blocked from voting in the leadership election of their own party, just at the point at which many of them had begun to engage with politics. Regardless of political leaning, it is wholly unfair to deny these individuals the chance to choose their party leader – they have campaigned, they have canvassed and they have paid a membership fee – and it hardly comes across as democratic.

With the Supreme Court refusing the appeal to appeal this decision (I know, it’s getting very tedious), what are the abandoned supporters left with? To what aim is this all happening? Yes, refusing them the right to vote in this election may weaken Corbyn’s power in terms of individual votes – but his grassroots support will most probably increase and mobilise in retaliation. If one glances at Twitter, the tension is palpable – it is not long before this is translated into action.

John McDonnell wanted a revolution to occur – and the NEC has just given him the perfect environment in which this can flourish. People will not just be heading out to vote any longer – they will be heading to the streets, marching against the “establishment” who have taken away their opportunity for real change. The NEC and wider Labour Party have created a toxic image (“You can support us – when it suits us”) which will end up causing one of two things. Either the party will now force a split, as the two factions are so entrenched in this battle that no compromise can possibly be found. Or Corbyn will come into power, with a smaller majority, and mobilise his mass of supporters to oust the remaining Labour stooges who have forced through such measures.

Who will this entire debacle benefit the most? The Conservatives, who have been sitting back from the other side of the dispatch box, watching the crisis unfold with undisguised glee. The more the Labour Party continues with this infighting, the more it makes the Tories look organised, plausible – and attractive to voters who do not care much for revolution, but just want an easy life not continually disturbed by petty arguments and vicious periodic court cases.

Unless Labour pulls itself together, which is looking highly unlikely, we can say hello to a Tory government for the next 10 years. I don’t feel particularly enthusiastic about that prospect, but I also don’t feel enthusiastic about voting for a party that has a public court argument about the definition of the word “defined”, either. The ideological gap between the two parties has widened extensively – the question is, which way will the floating voters turn?