Sorry, I must disagree based on the historical record.

I joined the Labour Party when Michael Foot was still leader in 1983. Foot became Leader in 1980 in a tight race and was known for being opposed to the Atlantic Alliance and the EEC, which upset many and ultimately resulted in the Limehouse Declaration of January 81 and the formation of the SDP - so, one faction split from the Party, which was still dominated by the Trades Unions.

Remember, 1980-1983 was peak Benn and his push to democratise the Party. Further, and despite the formation of the SDP, Foot was ahead in the Polls - it was the Falkland's War that saved Thatcher's bacon.

The 1983 GE Manifesto from Foot was radical for the Party following the Callaghan years with a commitment to leave the EEC and pulling the UK out of NATO, never mind numerous domestic policies favourable to the Unions and workers.

We know Foot was detested, on NATO he was intractable and his EEC policy was not popular with the establishment. Indeed, its now known the SDP received considerable funds from the CIA via numerous fronts in the UK - a genuine case of US interference.

So, Foot wanted to reverse Callaghan & Healey's embrace of monetarism in 1976, that's before all of Benn's machinations - obviously, Foot lost in 83 on a Manifesto Hattersley claimed was the longest suicide note in history.

Of course, once Foot resigned and Kinnock took the Leadership the Party began its purge of the Bennites and other Leftist groups freely operating within the Party, among them Militant.

I agree it was the CIA plant Kinnock who destroyed the Party as a genuine Left alternative, but hope existed within the Party until the Miners Strike, which Kinnock failed to support - one reason he's detested in South East Wales among Miners families.

As with Corbyn, a small interlude existed before the Party began its move to the Right again under the hated Kinnock and his bright new faces, among them Blair and Browm.