Jeremy Corbyn’s legal battle with Labour reaches the High Court

The first stage of Jeremy Corbyn’s legal battle with Labour over his suspension from the parliamentary party will be heard by the High Court.

Lawyers for the former opposition leader are applying for the disclosure of documents ahead of a possible legal challenge over his suspension.

At a remote hearing on Monday afternoon, judge Lisa Sullivan will consider an application for “pre-action disclosure” by Corbyn’s legal team.

His case is expected to relate to the Islington North MP’s original suspension and the negotiation with the leader of the opposition’s office over the terms of his reinstatement.

It has previously been reported that they will seek evidence proving there was a deal with Keir Starmer’s office to readmit him to the party.

Corbyn was suspended from Labour in October for claiming that the scale of anti-Semitism in the party was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.

He later attempted to clarify his comments in a statement to the party, saying concerns about antisemitism were “neither ‘exaggerated’ nor ‘overstated’”.

Corbyn was reinstated as a party member by the National Executive Committee following a meeting of a disciplinary panel three weeks after his suspension.

But Starmer blocked him from sitting as a Labour MP, though he said he would keep the decision not to restore the whip “under review”.