Jeremy Corbyn is a long-time friend of Bruce Kent, the laicised Catholic priest and prominent CND campaigner. They have attended church together on at least one occason in the past.

In addition he is married to Laura Alvarez, from Mexico, a traditionally Catholic country.

At the funeral of Mary Turner, who was president of the GMB union, and who died in July, Corbyn was seen with his wife in the queue for Holy Communion. He also spoke at the funeral and paid his respects to her family and Mary's memory. 

In the same way that someone who is not a member of the Labour Party can't just turn up and vote at a Labour Party Conference, the Catholic Church has strict rules about who can receive communion, which Corbyn will certainly know about. The Westminster Archdiocese, in which the funeral at Sacred Heart Church in Kilburn took place, expects people to be 'in full communion with the Catholic Church' if they wish to receive communion.

There are exceptions, but in general, Holy Communion is restricted to baptised and confirmed Catholics. If a baptised Anglican is on holiday and there is no Anglican church within reach, they can receive communion in an RC church. 

At events where non-Catholics are likely to be present, such as funerals, Catholic priests will normally invite everyone to the altar rail, but make it clear that non-Catholics should request a blessing. 

If Corbyn did actually go on to receive communion, and not merely a blessing, does this mean that he has converted? That he is no longer an agnostic?

A spokesman for the Labour leader told Christian Today: 'Jeremy has not converted to Catholicism.'

Nevertheless, Corbyn has certainly for decades been attracted by the social teaching of the Catholic Church, with its emphasis on justice for the poor and marginalised.

The story, revealed in the New Statesman, echoes those around former Prime Minister Tony Blair when he was still an Anglican. Blair joined his wife Cherie in the Catholic Church – but only after he left Downing Street. 

It was common knowledge that Blair was on a journey to Rome. Cardinal Basil Hume, predecessor to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor as Archbishop of Westminster, found he had no choice but to write to Blair in 1996 asking him to stop taking communion in Cherie's parish in Islington, the Church of St Joan of Arc.

Corbyn went to a CofE school but has always been understood to be agnostic, although he has never disclosed much about what he believes. In 2015 he said: 'I respect all faiths, I probably spend more time going to religious services than most people, of all types.'

Catholic Canon Law states that the salvation of souls in the Church must always be the supreme law. Maybe someone high up has decided the salvation of Jeremy Corbyn overrides the rules. That really would be God having the most fantastic sense of humour – if Corbyn does one day end up become Britain's first ever Roman Catholic Prime Minister.