He really is clinging on. You can see why, but at this stage it's going to be own goals all around.
The obvious problem with this Mexican standoff as well, is an embattled and inward looking leader with some good intentions but precious little talent left to field in his shadow team, and that's after the last election took some out anyway; people fleeing for mayoralties, very sour grapes unwilling to serve and no easy way of reshuffling the deck. What sort of campaign Labour then can fight from here on is beyond me. Especially since recent leaks are shedding light on what appears to be either Corbyn (unlikely, tbh) or his comms man's strategic use of the Remain campaign to orchestrate a sort of Johnsonian twist, being further rather damaging to morale if true at least in part.
Indeed, if it were advantageous to initiate some cloak and dagger manoeuvres within the PLP and then take a few seats at a potential election, under a proxy of Brexit, why not go for it directly instead and save everyone some drama? Hard to say at this stage what's Corbyn, what's media spin and what's rebels muddying the waters. Can't really get any more sense out of my Labour friends either, and they are meant to be the inside men, lol. Oh dear.
As someone said, if there were a younger Jezza MK2, more politically suave, preferably from outside London and flexible in his handling of the PLP, now would be the time to field him. But all I can think of are some ancients and that Owen Jones fella, who isn't even an MP but a mere hack. Sigh, turbulent and strange political times indeed.
