Local Labour parties show ‘unjust’ Keir Starmer won’t get rid of Jeremy Corbyn without a fight

Keir Starmer and Jeremy Corbyn


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If Keir Starmer wants to get rid of Jeremy Corbyn, it seems he’s going to have to fight his own party. Up and down the country, Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) have condemned the Labour leader’s decision to keep the Islington MP suspended.

Corbyn was originally suspended from the party on 29 October following his response to the publication of the EHRC antisemitism report. He argued that the levels of antisemitism in the party had been “dramatically overstated”.

That suspension has now been lifted. But Starmer has controversially ruled that Corbyn still cannot serve as a Labour MP.

CLPs fighting back

Starmer told the Guardian:

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.

However, that decision has angered members. Rushcliffe CLP condemned Starmer, calling his decision “unjust”, “factional”, and “politically motivated”:

On 19 November 2020, Rushcliffe Constituency Labour Party met and discussed the withholding of the Labour whip from the former Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. We believe this decision to be unjust and politically motivated. We condemn Keir Starmer’s conduct, and we censure the Party’s General Secretary David Evans.

Read on...

Jeremy has spent his life campaigning against racism, including antisemitism, and in defence of the rights of oppressed peoples. He is not an antisemite, nor has he engaged in antisemitic conduct.

We believe that Jeremy’s comments following the publication of the EHRC Report last month were correct, ‘One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents’. According to the EHRC Report, Jeremy was entitled to make these comments about the scale of antisemitism in the Party.

We call on Keir Starmer to immediately end his factional attacks. Jeremy must have the whip reinstated immediately, and every Party member who has been suspended for supporting his comments must be readmitted without delay.

“A membership revolt”

This view was reflected in similar motions by CLPs all over the country.

Tribune editor Ronan Burtenshaw compiled a list on Twitter:

Embarrassingly for Starmer, at least one CLP that backed him in the last leadership election also voted to condemn his actions:

It appears that if Starmer wants Corbyn gone, he’s going to have a fight on his hands.

Featured image via Jeremy Corbyn – Wikimedia

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  • Show Comments

    1. My complete family left the Labour Party as soon as Kier (Blair) Starmer was elected leader. His treatment of Jeremy Corbyn is disgraceful as is his treatment of anyone from the left. JC was the first politician in a long time to truly inspire people like me and mine, to give hope and understanding, to show there is a different, fairer and better way and to truly want to make

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    2. All our lives easier. Anyone that has met him, read about him or watched him know that there isn’t a racist bone in his body. Racists don’t get arrested for protesting about apartheid racists don’t consistently vote against war and regime change invasions. The fact that he is and has never been racist is why the MSM and the likes of the integrity project muppets keep to the strict mantra of he’s anti semite as though that is different and even worse than islamophonbia and or race hatred. By saying that you do not agree with the state of Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians and how they use snipers to kill protesters including children, how they use bulldozers to destroy homes, does NOT make you a racist anti semite what it DOES make you is a compassionate human being.

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    3. Let’s be realistic. A Starmer lead Labour Government will not be any better than Johnson’s Conservatives. He would get away with more privatizations, PFIs, and “welfare reforms” just like Tony Blair’s Labour. Now is the time for the Labour left to form a new party, just like Keir Hardy did.

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    4. I do not believe that Starmer has EVER had any real interest in the Labour Party! He was an unknown quantity when he was first seen negotiating Brexit with Corbyn and before his “grabbing” the leadership there was no mention (deliberately) of his commitment to zionism, a creed which many do not understand and some disapprove of.
      Since becoming leader, many of Starmer`s actions have been baffling and outrageous. My “take” on Starmer is that he has ALWAYS been a “plant” someone who, from the beginning has ONLY been in Labour to undermine and supplement socialism and democracy and impose his own pro right wing and zionist agenda on the Party! That Starmer is right wing is beyond doubt, when has he ever opposed any of Johnson`s most extreme policies? Starmer`s sole purpose is to neutralize the Labour movement he is a tool of the right wing establishment. His backers had a nasty shock when they saw how popular Corbyn was and will do anything to stifle the genuine democracy that Corbyn represents!!

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    6. Jeremy Corbyn. The gift that keeps on giving for Boris Johnson. How the Tories must love him.

      Any chance of the Canary reporting on Joe Biden’ success at removal of Trump, surely a massive achievement in bringing some hope of stability in the White House, tackling climate change and fighting white supremacists?
      Or do you only support unelectable politicians who shore up power for extreme right nut jobs?

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