JEREMY Corbyn will not be allowed to sit as a Labour MP after Keir Starmer refused to restore the whip to his predecessor.
He was suspended last month after the publication of a damning report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission which claimed the party was “responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination” during his time in charge.
Responding to that criticism, Corbyn claimed that Labour’s antisemitism problem had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
That put him at odds with Starmer and led to his membership being revoked. But on Tuesday a panel from the Labour’s governing National Executive Committee agreed to let him back in.
The decision sparked fury from a number of Jewish groups.
Karen Pollock, from the HET, said: “This sends an appalling message. ‘Zero tolerance’ either means zero tolerance or it’s meaningless. The scathing report from the EHRC less than three weeks ago outlined a stream of racism and discrimination by the Labour Party on Jeremy Corbyn’s watch.”
The Jewish Labour Movement called the decision to reinstate Corbyn “extraordinary”.
In a statement released yesterday morning, Starmer said there was currently no space in the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) for Corbyn.
He said: “The disciplinary process does not have the confidence of the Jewish community. That became clear once again yesterday. It is the task of my leadership to fix what I have inherited.
“That is what I am resolute in doing and I have asked for an independent process to be established as soon as possible.”
He said Corbyn had “undermined and set back our work in restoring trust and confidence in the Labour Party’s ability to tackle antisemitism.”
According to reports last night, Corbyn is considering legal action against Starmer’s PLP ban.
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