Jeremy Corbyn has brushed aside suggestions that he would face an internal coup to depose him if he became Labour leader, saying he would follow the example of Abraham Lincoln who acted as a unifying figure after the American civil war.

Established party figures, led by Neil Kinnock and Peter Mandelson, have warned of the "dangers" of a Corbyn victory. Corbyn, in Leeds at the launch of an economic plan to rejuvenate the north of England, said: "Plots and double plots and sub-plots and plotting - it's fascinating. I think Abraham Lincoln made a point. At the end of the American civil war he said, `with malice toward none and charity towards all' we will go forward, I am sure that is the right way to do things."

Up to eight members of the shadow cabinet, led by the shadow chancellor, Chris Leslie, have said they would decline to serve on the frontbench under Corbyn. Kinnock suggested over the weekend that Corbyn, the MP for Islington North, was more suitable to serve as "chair of a discussion group who can preside over two years or more of fascinating debate".

The above got my attention, as those who read my review of Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln would have guessed. But, I'm curious: does Corbyn have Lincoln's alpha-male-handling skills in him? (I don't know much about him.)

_{*Lunatic*, n.
One whose delusions are out of fashion.}