POLITICS is a rough game but the relentless denigration of Jeremy Corbyn by the national press, much of it personally insulting, is really rather depressing.

For a prominent ex-editor to posit that a good fake news story would be about an asylum seeker stabbing Corbyn to death is outrageous, especially following the murder of Jo Cox.

Simultaneously, Mr Corbyn has endured constant undermining from the majority of his Parliamentary colleagues. It’s a measure of the man that he has endured this with great dignity.

Motivation is not hard to find; the owners of the national press are wealthy and Corbyn’s proposition that the rich should pay their fair share towards a fairer and more equal society fills them with horror. As for his Parliamentary colleagues they see that Corbyn is not interested in personal enrichment and they fear that his position will obstruct their own elevation to ermine and lucrative boardroom positions.

Labour will undoubtedly lose this election but Corbyn’s legacy will hopefully set in motion a grassroots change, led by the Momentum, of ensuring that Labour once again represents the working class, the poor and marginalised.

Theresa May will win by using stage managed appearances with repetition of vacuous slogans because the swing voters that she needs to attract, Ukip and working class Tories (largely interchangeable) are generally poorly educated and consequently politically unsophisticated.

In as much as the Tories have a philosophy it consists of two principles. The first is that they keep power and wealth flowing up to those who already have it.

Secondly, they will say or promise anything as long as it means they retain power and it doesn’t interfere with the first principle.

Mrs May does not have a good record in keeping pledges.

VJ Connor, Bishop Auckland