'Pushed around like a grandpa' Are Jeremy Corbyn’s advisors REALLY in the driving seat?
JEREMY CORBYN was “pushed around like a grandpa” by his key advisors during his recent cover shoot with men’s magazine GQ, according to magazine's editor, who questioned whether Jeremy Corbyn is really the one in the driving seat.
Dylan Jones, the title’s editor, revealed Mr Corbyn’s closest advisors are tight “gatekeepers” to the Labour Party leader, even rejecting the prospect of Tony Blair’s former communications chief Alastair Campbell conducting the interview.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Jones revealed interviewer Stuart McGurk, a fan of Mr Corbyn, was “quite quickly disillusioned” while speaking to the hard-left politician.
Jones added he believed Mr Corbyn “wasn’t particularly aware of what was going on” while shooting with GQ, even suggesting the Labour leader is the “weaker part of the relationship” with his aides.
Describing the photo shoot, Jones said: “The actual shoot itself was quite tortuous, it was as difficult as shooting any Hollywood celebrity, actually.
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He’s got Seumas Milne and his sort of crew, who are very particular gatekeepers
“We’ve shot many politicians for our cover – we were the first magazine to have David Cameron on the cover, we’ve shot Boris twice and earlier in the year we did Sadiq Khan with great success – but never have encountered such a ring.
“Obviously, he’s got Seumas Milne and his sort of crew, who are very particular gatekeepers.
“They didn’t really seem to understand the process at all, they didn’t understand he would have to be photographed in the first place, he would need to be presentable or he couldn’t just turn up in his anorak.
“The whole process was fascinating. When he actually turned up for the shoot, it was almost like he was being pushed around like a grandpa for the family Christmas photograph – he wasn’t particularly aware of what’s going on.”
When asked whether if he believed Mr Corbyn was in control, Jones added: “We sent Stuart McGurk, he went as something of a fan of Corbyn and was quite quickly disillusioned, not least because I think he started to subscribe to theory, that lots of people do, that Corbyn is a bit of a Wizard of Oz character and does appear to be the weaker part of the relationship.”
Mr Corbyn’s full interview will appear in GQ, which is released on Monday. The Labour leader discusses Brexit, US President Donald Trump and what he would do on his first day if elected Prime Minister.
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He revealed he would speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin on his first day in No.10.
Mr Corbyn said: “I’m strongly critical of Putin’s Government on human rights issues. Does that mean we don’t have a relationship with Putin? No, it means the opposite.”
He also said he was looking forward to meeting with Mr Trump, adding:”I hope we can work together to deal with the crucial issues faced in the world.”
