Jeremy Corbyn’s reputation as an ‘extremist’ is being eclipsed by the PM’s recklessness – he should use that to his advantage

The Labour leader has the opportunity to enhance his credentials as a democrat battling against an autocrat. Stepping up his game now could be a game-changer

Just imagine, for a minute, the reaction had a minority government led by Jeremy Corbyn suspended parliament because, I don’t know, it was trying to nationalise the water companies but was struggling with a lack of parliamentary support for its planned course.

Picture the outrage, the Twitter storm, the newspaper headlines characterising him as a communist intent on smashing democracy, a traitor even.

Former justice secretary David Gauke archly made that point yesterday. Sam Gyimah, another Tory of rebellious intent, followed up this morning, saying the Labour leader would be accused of Trotskyist tactics. And so he would. At the bare minimum.

The decision by Boris Johnson to drive a sledgehammer through parliamentary democracy, by forcing the Queen to accept his request to suspend, or prorogue, it, however, presents the leader of the opposition with an opportunity.

He has, up to this point, done a less than stellar job, by any objective assessment.

It’s possible that we wouldn’t have reached this nadir had he made a better fist of it; had the government had more to fear from its opposition.

But then Corbyn sprang something of a surprise. He sat down with other opposition parties, some of which have been quite rude about him, and agreed upon a strategy to prevent a no-deal Brexit, one that didn’t involve inserting him into No 10.

It was this that precipitated Johnson’s shameful move and which, in the process, gave the electorate a clear picture of the sort of man their unelected prime minister is, and of the character of some of the brazenly hypocritical ministers he has in his cabinet.

I’m looking at you Matt Hancock, Amber Rudd, Sajid Javid, even Michael Gove, all of whom spoke about how outrageous such a move would be until their posts became conditional on the tawdry acceptance of it.

A snap poll in the aftermath suggested voters weren’t much impressed with Johnson’s tactics, including, surprisingly, a substantial number of Leave backers, even in the face of the patently cynical attempts to characterise it as part of the normal business of the legislature by the likes of the oleaginous Jacob Rees-Mogg and some of his little friends.

Johnson’s behaviour, and that of Dominic Cummings, the cadaverous puppet master who has taken over the Downing Street machine, could help to neuter one of the Corbyn’s biggest weaknesses: the perception of him as an extremist.

Despite what the Tory press would have you believe, the former was never borne out by the programme Labour laid out in its manifesto.

But there’s still the question of whether or not he’s a credible prime minister. If Corbyn can show he’s capable of leadership, and of continuing to work with other parties with the interests of the nation in mind, he might be able to nip that one in the bud too.

Will he grab the opportunity he’s been presented with? The early signs have been equivocal. Yes there was that meeting. But there was also, for example, an opportunity for him to appear on Newsnight, which the government ducked with characteristic cowardice by refusing to send a minister to try and justify the unjustifiable. There he could have given voice to outrage provoked by prorogation.

Instead, his loyal bagman, Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, was sent to the BBC to do the job for him.

On the same programme, Iain Dale, the Conservative LBC presenter who backed Leave, was sharply critical of the unwillingness of both sides for their avoidance of the broadcast media. He was right to vent his frustration.

An appearance by Corbyn could have served to sharpen the contrast between him and Johnson, enhancing his credentials as a democrat battling against an autocrat. He dropped the ball.

It is to be hoped that he can pick it up in the days to come.

In America, another man of the left, Bernie Sanders, walked into the belly of the beast, appearing at a town hall meeting hosted by the nakedly conservative Fox News, which all but functions as the broadcasting arm of the Republican Party. Corbyn could learn something from that.

Britain badly needs him to step up and change the narrative. At a moment of national crisis, he must show he can serve as an effective alternative prime minister. The first step in that is proving he can serve as an effective leader of the opposition.

His Brexit policy of constructive ambiguity just doesn't cut it in the face of a constitutional coup. Nor does hiding under a bushel.