Category Archives: Jeremy Corbyn

Keir Starmer denies Jeremy Corbyn Labour whip despite end of suspension

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Decision means former leader will not sit as Labour MP and is likely to reignite party row

Keir Starmer has sparked a furious backlash from Labour leftwingers by refusing to readmit Jeremy Corbyn as a Labour MP, arguing that his predecessor has undermined efforts to restore the party’s reputation in the Jewish community.

A disciplinary panel of the party’s nationl executive committee (NEC) lifted the suspension of Corbyn’s party membership on Tuesday after he issued a conciliatory statement “clarifying” controversial remarks he made when the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published a damning report on Labour antisemitism.

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Starmer: most Labour members would not support Corbyn’s EHRC response

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Labour leader says his predecessor should ‘reflect’ on comments about antisemitism

The “vast majority” of Labour members would not have approved of Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s report on antisemitism in the party, Sir Keir Starmer said on Sunday.

The new leader also said his predecessor should “reflect” on what he said following the publication of the findings of the EHRC inquiry which found the party responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.

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Corbyn-supporting MPs discussed quitting Labour, Ian Lavery warns

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Exclusive: ex-party chair says fear of Starmer ‘purge’ may lead to MPs sitting as independents

Labour MPs who support Jeremy Corbyn have discussed resigning from the parliamentary party and sitting as independents amid fears that Keir Starmer could lead a “mass purge” of the left, an ally of the former leader has warned.

As senior party figures called for calm following Labour’s suspension of Corbyn on Thursday for saying the party’s antisemitism problem had been overstated, Ian Lavery said there are fears that the move was a “war cry” that could force some MPs to leave.

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Labour in turmoil as Corbyn suspended in wake of antisemitism report

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Former party leader said problem of antisemitism within Labour was ‘dramatically overstated for political reasons’

Labour was plunged into turmoil after the party suspended Keir Starmer’s predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, in the wake of a damning report into antisemitism that found the party responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination.

The decision to suspend Corbyn for saying the problem of antisemitism within Labour was “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by opponents and the media sent shockwaves through the party and led to rumours of a split.

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Former Labour donors returning to party under Keir Starmer

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Several former financial backers report rejoining, with some ‘ready to give again’ in wake of Jeremy Corbyn’s departure

Former Labour donors who had abandoned the party are already considering renewing their support under Keir Starmer’s leadership, it has emerged.

Figures who have given the party large sums in the past said they had rejoined Labour, with one major donor saying they were already prepared to give again. Another former supporter said there was “a long road” ahead after allegations of antisemitism in the party, but that they had been impressed with Starmer’s start.

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Jeremy Corbyn accuses Labour officials of sabotaging election campaign

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Exclusive: Former leader and allies say alleged diversion of funds in 2017 could be fraud

Jeremy Corbyn and his former leadership team have openly accused disgruntled Labour officials of potentially costing the party the chance of victory by sabotaging the 2017 election campaign in a factional dispute.

In a joint statement that shines a light on the scale of continued Labour splits, Corbyn, the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and seven other former shadow ministers and aides have for the first time formally endorsed claims made in a party report leaked in April.

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Antisemitism settlement plunges Labour party into civil war

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Jeremy Corbyn’s statement caused astonishment among litigants in libel action

Labour’s decision to pay a six-figure libel settlement to ex-staffers who claimed the party was failing to deal with antisemitism has plunged the party back into civil war, with Jeremy Corbyn publicly condemning his successor’s decision to settle the case.

Corbyn’s statement caused astonishment among the litigants in the libel action, with the Panorama journalist John Ware confirming to the Guardian that he was “consulting his lawyers” and raising the prospect of another costly court battle over Labour and antisemitism.

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Labour pays out six-figure sum and apologises in antisemitism row

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Party settles with whistleblowers and BBC reporter John Ware over ‘false allegations’


The Labour party has apologised “unreservedly” and paid out a six-figure sum to seven former employees and a veteran BBC journalist, admitting it defamed them in the aftermath of a Panorama investigation into its handling of antisemitism.

The settlement and formal apologies to both the reporter, John Ware, and the ex-employees, which have been read in open court, is believed to have cost the Labour party around £600,000, with about £180,000 in damages agreed for the eight individuals.

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Dysfunctional ‘toxic culture’ led to Labour defeat, major report finds

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Exclusive: party has mountain to climb to return to power, says Labour Together review

Labour has a “mountain to climb” if it is to get back into power, according to a major review of the 2019 general election defeat, which paints a picture of dysfunctionality, toxicity and drift inside the party’s election-fighting machine.

Negative perceptions of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership, doubts about the manifesto and the party’s ambivalent Brexit stance reinforced each other in a “snowballing” effect to deliver December’s catastrophic result, the 150-page report by the party group Labour Together argues.

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Victorious Keir Starmer pledges to restore trust in Labour

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Overwhelming vote grants new leader strong mandate to take party in his own direction

Sir Keir Starmer has promised to rebuild the nation’s trust in the Labour party after winning a stunning victory to succeed Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

Related: A conference call with his defeated rivals – then Keir Starmer was straight down to business

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Jeremy Corbyn’s wife Laura Alvarez hits out at critics on his last day

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As Corbyn prepares to step down as leader, Alvarez says Labour failed to ‘pull together’

Laura Alvarez, the wife of Jeremy Corbyn, has said she regrets Labour failed to “pull together” to win elections, condemning the media and his opponents in the party on his last day as leader of the party.

In a rare public statement, Alvarez said it had been “incredibly hard” for her to watch her husband vilified by the media and even harder to watch him be attacked by his own party.

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Jeremy Corbyn presses Boris Johnson on coronavirus in last PMQs as Labour leader – video

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Jeremy Corbyn pushed Boris Johnson for clarity on government guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic in his last PMQs as the leader of the opposition.

The prime minister said he agreed with Corbyn that people are having to make a sacrifice, but they are doing so gladly

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Peacetime constraints ditched in the war for economic survival | Larry Elliott

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The Covid-19 outbreak is forcing politicians and central bankers to set aside ideology and orthodoxy to prevent a global collapse

It is as if the lights have been switched off. The global economy has been plunged into darkness as countries hunker down in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Most recessions develop gradually over time. When the last one started in 2008 it took the Bank of England six months to spot it. This time it is different. Then it was a financial virus, this time it is the real thing. Commentators often say the economy is hitting the wall or is falling off a cliff on the weakest of evidence. Today the cliches are horrifyingly true.

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Coronavirus: renters to be protected from eviction says Johnson – video

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The prime minster has said the government will bring forward emergency legislation to protect private renters from eviction amid the coronavirus pandemic. His comments came after the Labour leader said private tenants were ‘worried sick’ they might not be able to pay their rents if they fell ill

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UK ministers will no longer claim ‘no successful examples’ of Russian interference

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Change of official line is first admission that Kremlin may have distorted UK elections

Ministers have been told they can no longer say there have been “no successful examples” of Russian disinformation affecting UK elections, after the apparent hacking of an NHS dossier seized on by Labour during the last campaign.

The dropping of the old line is the first official admission of the impact of Kremlin efforts to distort Britain’s political processes, and comes after three years of the government’s refusal to engage publicly with the threat.

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Boris Johnson says he will ‘stick by’ Priti Patel under fire from Labour

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PM backs home secretary amid bullying claims, saying she is doing an ‘outstanding job’

Boris Johnson has given the government’s strongest backing yet for Priti Patel in the wake of fresh bullying allegations, insisting the home secretary was doing an “outstanding job”, as Jeremy Corbyn demanded an independent inquiry into whether she had broken the ministerial code.

Patel was alongside Johnson on the frontbench during prime minister’s questions as he told the Commons she was keeping the country safe by increasing the number of police officers on the streets and bringing in a system to “tackle our migration crisis”.

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Boris Johnson faces Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs and Michel Barnier’s Brexit speech

Ian Blackford, the SNP leader at Westminster, says immigration is crucial for the Scottish economy. The Scottish government’s plans for a Scottish visa system have been welcomed by business and even Scottish Tories. Does the PM accept it was a mistake to reject the plan?

Johnson says this idea was rejected by the migration advisory committee. He says under the government’s plan firms will be able to get the workers they need.

Corbyn says he has learnt a lot from visiting victims of flooding. The PM should try it. He says people cannot get insurance. Isn’t it time the PM found an urgent solution to this problem? Just imagine what it must be like. People are looking to the government for help.

Johnson says there are problems with insurance. But the government scheme has helped many households. He says he is looking at what can be done to protect homes that cannot get insurance. He says any government led by Corbyn would not be able to help.

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The electability business: is Bernie Sanders America’s Corbyn?

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Some Democratic observers fear their party is following the British left’s road to defeat

British politics rarely intrudes into a US presidential election. In 1988, Joe Biden was forced to abandon his first bid for the White House after it emerged that he had quoted without attribution a chunk of oratory from the then Labour party leader, Neil Kinnock. In 2016, Donald Trump deployed Nigel Farage as an occasional mascot on the stump, the Brexit victory in that year’s referendum deemed a happy omen that populists could defy the odds and win. In 2020, a third name has surfaced, offered as a cautionary tale to a Democratic party that this week confirmed a septuagenarian radical socialist and longtime backbench rebel as its frontrunner. That name is Jeremy Corbyn.

“I don’t want the Democratic party of the United States to be the Labour party of the United Kingdom,” James Carville, the victorious manager of Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, told audiences on cable TV and in New Hampshire this week, warning that if Democrats nominate Bernie Sanders, they will almost certainly be following Corbyn’s Labour party to defeat.

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‘One rule for black boys and another for white’: Corbyn attacks PM

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Jeremy Corbyn confronts Boris Johnson on drug use after deportation of ex-offenders

Jeremy Corbyn launched a scathing personal attack on Boris Johnson over the way black and white children connected to class A drugs are treated by the government in the wake of the deportation of ex-offenders to Jamaica.

Speaking in the Commons, the Labour leader called out the prime minister over allegations of Johnson’s own drug use, saying: “If there was a case of a young white boy with blond hair who later dabbled in class A drugs, and conspired with a friend to beat up a journalist, would he deport that boy?

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PMQs: Boris Johnson faces Jeremy Corbyn – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs

The SDLP’s Colum Eastwood asks about the involvement of the IRA in the murder of Paul Quinn in 2007. It was claimed Quinn was a criminal, he says. That was a lie, he says.

Johnson says the government will implement the Stormont House agreement so as to provide justice for victims.

The SNP’s Owen Thompson asks when the report into Russian interference in UK elections will be published.

Johnson says it will be published when the intelligence and security committee is reconstituted. He says conspiracy theorists will be disappointed by its conclusions.

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