Twitter explodes as David Miliband says Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable
True love will never die.
David Miliband wrenched himself out of the political shadows today to defend Labour's centre-left values, and Twitter lost it.
Writing in the New Statesman, Miliband wrote: "The main charge against Jeremy Corbyn is not just that his strategy is undesirable because it makes the party unelectable. That is only half the story. The real issue is that his strategy makes the party unelectable because it is in many aspects undesirable.
"Now Labour sits a long way from power, even before boundary changes. The ultimate ignominy of not being able to organise our own party conference has been avoided, but we have not been further from power since the 1930s."
Read more: In quotes: Jeremy Corbyn's quite sarcastic Today programme appearance
Miliband – who was once in the offing to become Labour leader himself – railed against Corbyn's policies, saying nationalisation "cannot be the answer to everything" and an anti-austerity stance "cannot explain everything".
The Twitter trolls quickly left their underground dungeons and social media warfare began.
The attacks were varied, but a large number of the tweets amounted to: "HA! Remember when you lost an election to your younger brother?"
Is David Miliband for real?? He ain't even the best leader at his family Christmas do 👀@SkyNews
— Sammy Engele (@SammyEngele) September 22, 2016
"David Miliband" The loser couldn't even beat his brother, he has proved he is unelectable Jeremy has won 10 elections as an MP & counting
— Vinny (@Vinny_RH) September 22, 2016
No. Sharks are majestic. David Miliband seems more of a goldfish who's out of his depth, with false teeth borrowed from the US.
— Cora Livesey 🕊️ (@coralivesey) September 22, 2016
https://twitter.com/JaneAitchison/status/778850916975992832
David Miliband isn't even the most electable leader in his family…
— Matthew Solly (@MattSolly) September 22, 2016
But there were plenty of nostalgic Blairites (also known as "Bitterites" to Corbyn's fans) on hand to defend their dream Labour leader.
Help us David Miliband, you're our only hope
— Mike Gee (@groomtings) September 22, 2016
David Miliband is right corp tax can't pay "everything" but restore 2010 rates and you could scrap tuition fees and NHS deficit. That's all.
— Steve Howell (@FromSteveHowell) September 22, 2016
David Miliband says it all so well. How different things could be. https://t.co/V55ZHvAerp
— Nick Hope (@nickjhope) September 22, 2016
https://twitter.com/TPotoms/status/778863693203406848
https://twitter.com/loveandlumos/status/778862701049159680
And then there were those who just weren't taking the whole thing seriously.
https://twitter.com/JeremeyCorbyn/status/778864792144584704
The intervention from Miliband – now president of the International Rescue Committee – comes after polls closed in Labour's most recent leadership election (which has taken place roughly a year after its last leadership contest). Corbyn is widely expected to win, which many on the right of the party fear will spell out electoral oblivion for Labour.