Sir Keir Starmer, the current Labour Party leader, has confirmed that Jeremy Corbyn, the hard-left former leader, will not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate in the next general election. Starmer has stated that the party is now “unrecognisable” from its form during Corbyn’s leadership from 2015 to 2020, when it was plagued by allegations of antisemitism among party ranks.
In October 2020, Corbyn was suspended from the party after he said the findings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) investigation into allegations of antisemitism in the Labour Party were “dramatically overstated” for political reasons. His party membership was reinstated the following month, but Starmer has refused to give back his party whip, meaning he has been kept out of the parliamentary Labour Party and classed as an “independent” MP.
In a speech on Wednesday, Starmer welcomed the EHRC’s decision to lift the party out of two years of special measures over its past failings on antisemitism. He invited those on the far left of Labour to leave the party if they oppose his reforms, and confirmed Corbyn himself will be stripped of his candidacy for Labour. “Let me be very clear, Jeremy Corbyn will not stand at the next general election as a Labour Party candidate,” Starmer said. “What I said about the party changing, I meant, and we are not going back.”
In response, Corbyn said Starmer’s decision is a “flagrant attack” on democracy, and added: “This is a divisive distraction from our overriding goal: to defeat the Conservative Party.” The Labour leader reiterated his vow that anyone who plays down antisemitism will be treated with “zero patience or tolerance” and acknowledged it is not “the end of the road” for tackling the issue. He said: “I understand that some people won’t like the changes we’ve made but I say this with all candour, the Labour Party is unrecognisable from 2019 and it will never go back. It will never again be a party captured by narrow interest, it will never again lose sight of its purpose or its morals. And it will never again be brought to its knees by racism or bigotry. If you don’t like that, if you don’t like the changes we’ve made, I say the door is open and you can leave.”
Starmer also confirmed that he does not have the power to proscribe Momentum, the Labour faction that supports Corbyn, but reiterated his open-door policy to opponents. Momentum said in response that it should be for Labour members in Islington North to decide their candidate—that is their democratic right.
The EHRC found the Labour Party in breach of the Equality Act (2010) for political interference in antisemitism complaints, failure to provide adequate training to those handling antisemitism complaints, and harassment. On Wednesday, the watchdog announced that its action plan for Labour to address breaches of the Equality Act concluded at the end of January and it was satisfied with the reforms.
Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: “At the next election I believe all British Jews will once again be free to vote according to their political persuasion rather than out of fear.” However, she offered a “note of caution” that there are still “issues with antisemitism, particularly within the grassroots” of the Labour Party.
Sir Keir Starmer has confirmed that Jeremy Corbyn, the hard-left former Labour leader, will not be allowed to stand as a Labour candidate at the next general election. This comes after the party was plagued by allegations of antisemitism during Corbyn’s leadership from 2015 to 2020. He was suspended from the party in October 2020 for saying the findings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s investigation into antisemitism in the Labour Party were “dramatically overstated” for political reasons. His party membership was reinstated the following month, but Starmer has refused to give back his party whip, meaning he has been kept out of the parliamentary Labour Party and classed as an “independent” MP.
In a speech on Wednesday, Starmer welcomed the EHRC’s decision to lift the party out of two years of special measures over its past failings on antisemitism. He invited those on the far left of Labour to leave the party if they oppose his reforms, and reiterated his vow that anyone who plays down antisemitism will be treated with “zero patience or tolerance”. He said: “I understand that some people won’t like the changes we’ve made but I say this with all candour, the Labour Party is unrecognisable from 2019 and it will never go back. It will never again be a party captured by narrow interest, it will never again lose sight of its purpose or its morals. And it will never again be brought to its knees by racism or bigotry. If you don’t like that, if you don’t like the changes we’ve made, I say the door is open and you can leave.”
The EHRC found the Labour Party in breach of the Equality Act (2010) for political interference in antisemitism complaints, failure to provide adequate training to those handling antisemitism complaints, and harassment. On Wednesday, the watchdog announced that its action plan for Labour to address breaches of the Equality Act concluded at the end of January and it was satisfied with the reforms. Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: “At the next election I believe all British Jews will once again be free to vote according to their political persuasion rather than out of fear.” However, she offered a “note of caution” that there are still “issues with antisemitism, particularly within the grassroots” of the Labour Party.
Jeremy Corbyn has said Starmer’s decision is a “flagrant attack” on democracy and that it is a “divisive distraction” from the overriding goal of defeating the Conservative Party. Momentum, the Labour faction that supports Corbyn, said it should be for Labour members in Islington North to decide their candidate—that is their democratic right. Diane Abbott, one of Corbyn’s oldest allies, said he has “no intention of standing as an independent.”