Shropshire Star comment: Step up to your duty, Mr Corbyn

When Putin’s cronies launched an attack in Salisbury using a deadly nerve agent, Mr Corbyn wanted there to be talks – talks with the Russians.

He suggested to the Commons that they might be able to help in the investigation, and help identify where the nerve agent may have come from. Credulous of Russia’s denials of state involvement, it was a mealy-mouthed response disowned by many of his backbenchers.

This week the Prime Minister invited him to talks about the way forward in the Brexit impasse. The man who was happy for talks with a rogue state breaching international norms of decent behaviour and being shown to be blatant liars has angrily turned down the opportunity of talking to Theresa May as she tries to plot a pathway for the United Kingdom out of the Brexit mess.

Mr Corbyn says he will not talk to her unless she rules out a no-deal Brexit. To make such conditions before joining talks is preposterous posturing and playing to his party gallery when what the nation is crying out for is for politicians of all sides to stop the games which have got us precisely nowhere.

The party leader whose official policy is that “all options are open” is declaring that he will only work constructively with the Prime Minister if one option – that of a no-deal Brexit – is ruled out in advance, and without a Parliamentary vote, although a general view seems to be that rejecting a no-deal is one of the few things that would command a majority in the Commons.

Mrs May has already met party leaders who openly want to stop Brexit – Sir Vince Cable and Ian Blackford – so any meeting of minds with them is unlikely. This makes it even more lamentable that the biggest opposition party, Labour, which like the Tories went into the last general election pledging to carry Brexit through, is playing dog in the manger.

Labour and the DUP are key players if there is to be a Brexit breakthrough.

Futile repeated calls for a general election do not meet the needs of the hour.