Jeremy Corbyn will not sit as a Labour Party MP in the Commons, Sir Keir Starmer says
The former leader was reinstated as a member of the party on Tuesday, having been suspended over his response to a human rights watchdog report on anti-Semitism in Labour ranks.
But his successor said his remarks had “undermined… our work in restoring trust” with the Jewish community.
Sir Keir said he would keep his decision under review.
This comes after the Former Labour leader had been suspended from the party and has had the whip removed. Mr Corbyn had reacted to a damning report into antisemitism by saying the number of complaints made during his tenure were “dramatically overstated”.
Board of Deputies of British Jews president, Marie van der Zyl, said Sir Keir had “taken the appropriate leadership decision”, adding Mr Corbyn had been “shameless and remorseless for what he has put the Jewish community through”.
But former shadow chancellor and close ally of Mr Corbyn, John McDonnell, said the move was “just plain wrong” and would cause “more division and disunity in the party”.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) published a report last month, saying Labour had broken the law over its handling of anti-Jewish racism complaints by party members during Mr Corbyn’s tenure.
Sir Keir, who took over the party in April, said those who think the issue had been “exaggerated” should “be nowhere near the Labour Party”.
But later, Mr Corbyn released a statement, saying the scale of anti-Semitism had been “dramatically overstated” by his opponents, and he was suspended by the party.
On Tuesday, the former leader attempted to clarify his position in public, saying “concerns about anti-Semitism are neither ‘exaggerated’ nor ‘overstated'”.
Later that day, a panel of five National Executive Committee members met to discuss Mr Corbyn’s case and what action to take, before deciding to reinstate him as a member of the party.
This comes after people in the UK may struggle to get their orders delivered in time for Christmas this year, with a shipping boss warning of chaos at Britain’s biggest port, that is “getting worse” and is leading to a “very challenging” Christmas period.
Despite the decision from the panel of Labour’s ruling body, Sir Keir decided not to reinstate the party whip in the Commons for Mr Corbyn.
In a statement, the new leader said: “I have made it my mission to root out anti-Semitism from the Labour Party. I know that I will judged on my actions, not my words.”
“The disciplinary process does not have the confidence of the Jewish community. That became clear once again yesterday.”
He added: “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 anti-Semitism.”
“In those circumstances, I have taken the decision not to restore the whip to Jeremy Corbyn. I will keep this situation under review.”