I WAS delighted to see that Tom Newman’s retirement from the political fray was premature, and that he’s volunteering for yet more epistolary punishment (‘Corbyn’s Labour support dwindles’, letters, May 18).

Tom clearly hasn’t understood the argument, so let me try again.

In the mid-1990s, the Labour Party was captured by a ruthless coterie of right wingers who could have sat just as easily in the Tory Party, and who proceeded to virtually destroy the party of democratic socialism by their centralising authoritarian power-moves, sucking up to corporate big business in much the way that Tories always do.

So for some 13 years between 1997 and 2010, it actually made little difference whether we were led by Blair’s so-called “New Labour” or Hague’s, Duncan Smith’s or Howard’s Tory Party – the pro big business, pro-rich result was precisely the same.

So it is quite simply a category-error of mammoth proportions to claim that we had “Labour” governments over this period.

Blair and his henchmen were the “extremists”, Tom, not Corbyn and co, who throughout this period were the only Labour MPs who were keeping the ethical flame of True Labour alive – and thank heaven that they did, and are now reaping the benefits of their devotion to the true Labour vision.

Tom’s outlandish claim that “personal poll ratings mean little” goes directly against virtually all informed expert psephological opinion I’ve ever heard on this issue.

I met Corbyn personally in Woodchester the other day at Dale Vince’s Q Park event, and one could never wish to meet a more delightful, compassionate, personable man.

Everyone who meets Corbyn comes away with this impression, and he still has four years to turn his party around from the headlong rush towards oblivion under which it was headed under New Labour.

I’m happy to bow out of this correspondence for now, Tom, and to resume it with you after Corbyn’s historic victory in 2020.

Dr Richard House

Stroud