Former leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, has been reinstated to the party following the decision last month to suspend him, however, the party leader, Keir Starmer, will not reinstate the whip.
The Islington MP had been suspended since October for his response to an Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) investigation into Labour’s handling of antisemitism complaints.
Corbyn had rejected part of the damning report, stating that;
“The scale of the problem [was] dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
On Tuesday evening, a meeting of five panel members from Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) met and decided Corbyn should be reinstated as a Labour member – he will no longer sit as an independent.
The decision to suspend Corbyn had been taken by the parties’ general secretary, David Evans, but was seen to be supported by current Labour leader, Keir Starmer, who criticised Corbyn for his statement in the wake of the EHRC report.
Corbyn issued a statement stating that he regretted any hurt caused by his previous remarks; it is understood the statement was also submitted to the party as part of the investigation process into his comments.
The decisions, whilst supported by many Corbyn allies, has been criticised by the Jewish Labour Movement.
https://twitter.com/JewishLabour/status/1328770276868452353?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November
The party have readmitted him, but the current Labour leader, Keir Starmer, decided not to reinstate the party whip, meaning that he still won’t be a member of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP).
Starmer’s said that his decision not to reinstate the whip was due to Corbyn undermining trust in the parties ability to tackle anti-Semitism.
“Jeremy Corbyn’s actions in response to the EHRC report undermined and set back our work in restoring trust and confidence in the Labour Party’s ability to tackle antisemitism”.
“In those circumstances, I have taken the decision not to restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn. I will keep this situation under review”.
His decision has been welcomed by many Jewish members of the Labour Party who were left angered by the NEC decision to reinstate Corbyn.
https://twitter.com/Keir_Starmer/status/1329017092964806656?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>November
