What do the author of a best-selling series about a teen wizard and a 74-year-old parliamentarian have in common?
Some sparky messages for Jeremy Corbyn supporters, it turns out.
J K Rowling tweaked the nose of Corbynist Harry Potter fans when she tweeted that the expected re-election of Corbyn “isn’t bloody funny”.
When a critic called her a filthy liberal, she tweeted “#FilthyAndProudOfIt”.
The far left & far right share many things, like a loathing of ‘decadent’ liberals #FilthyAndProudOfIt pic.twitter.com/y7lxk9naqf
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 31, 2016
But Frank Field, the Labour MP for Birkenhead, also has a dramatic way with words.
On 1 September, (the day wizarding students go back to the magical school of Hogwarts) Field wrote to her:
“You hit the nail on the head, and not for the first time, about Corbyn. It is remarkable he has got half a million new members. If he could spell out how this becomes a social movement, rather than an execution squad of Labour MPs, and ties in with what political parties do to try and win elections, then we will be a step forward.
“I failed to get him to do any of this I’m afraid. So well done for your blast of reality.”
Here’s the letter:
Field’s words may be the internet equivalent of sending Corbyn fans a Howler, but he’s not donning his invisibility cloak.
Instead, he has proudly published the letter on his website.