Corbyn was suspended from his party, and was soon after re-established. It won't be possible for his reputation to be restored, and he is thus an Independent MP. The new leader of Labour is trying to re-ignite the vigour that Labour witnessed before the antisemitism media storm, but his methods are not exactly succeeding, or sticking by party ideals.
Senthur Shanmugarasa gives an inner-party analysis of the repercussions of the media campaign framing former Labour leader Corbyn for antisemitism, and how the new party leader has responded.
Nineteen days after Jeremy Corbyn was suspended from the Labour Party, he was reinstated but was not the given the party whip, meaning he will stand in his Islington North seat (the constituency he has served since 1983) as an independent. In a time where party unity is so vital to effectively challenging the worst government in living memory, establishment stooge Keir Starmer is busy demonising and attacking the left in order to cosy up to the right-wing establishment. The whole saga regarding the report is a purely political move by Keir Starmer in order to win over ex-Labour Voters swayed over to the Tories by negative media portrayals of Corbyn before the last election. The suspension itself raises questions about due process, as Corbyn is essentially being punished for daring to stand up to the vested interests that run this country. At the end of the day, having morals in British politics gets you nowhere.
The suspension came in the wake of Corbyn’s comments regarding the EHRC report into antisemitism in the Labour Party. The very sobering report recognised that there were organisational flaws within the party handling of cases. The crucial caveat which is often overlooked by reporters of the mainstream media is that the party was not found to be institutionally antisemitic, and was also seen to have been improving its complaints handling after the installation of Jennie Formby as General Secretary of the Labour Party in 2018. The party ought to have acknowledged the findings of the report, implemented the recommendations and rebuilt the trust of the Jewish community. Instead, Keir Starmer was too busy playing internal party politics and triggering a Labour civil war.
Corbyn’s response was equally sobering. He acknowledged the criticisms of the report and encouraged swift implementation of its finding as well as offering an apology to Jewish Labour members and the wider community. Corbyn also mentioned that the scale of antisemitism has been exaggerated for political purposes by factional opponents. While this may seem that he is downplaying the level of antisemitism in the party, his comment is undoubtedly correct as shown by the leaked Labour report published earlier this year which demonstrated that right-wing members of the party deliberately mishandled cases to undermine the leadership. Furthermore, Corbyn’s statement is protected by Article 10 of the EHRC report which protects Labour members to express their opinions on the level of Antisemitism in the party.
Establishment stooge Keir Starmer is too busy demonising and attacking the left in order to cosy up to the right-wing establishment.
The suspension and the aftermath are simply more politically motivated moves by Keir Starmer. This is ironic, as he ran his leadership campaign on restoring party unity and integrity as well as a continuation of the Corbyn legacy (policy wise). Since his victory of the leadership, Keir Starmer has sought at every opportunity to marginalise the left as shown by the sacking of former Shadow Education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey. He clearly thought a bit of McCarthyism would help with winning over the electorate. While kicking the left and creating internal division to ally themselves with the media has been a tried and tested method in the past, Starmer is actually alienating the voter base that made the Labour Party the party in Europe with the greatest income after Corbyn’s election in 2015. Recent figures show up to 57,000 members have left the party since April.
The suspension of Corbyn has no genuine legal grounding, and ignores the key recommendation of the report regarding political interference. All this fiasco tells us is that Starmer is hellbent on purging the left at every opportunity, a far cry from the slogan of unity he ran on during his leadership campaign. The longer Keir drags out this civil war, the more Tories will be rubbing their hands- he ought to remember that the real opposition is a certain Mr Johnson, and not Corbyn.
Corbyn: to suspend or not to suspend?
Corbyn: to suspend or not to suspend?
Dec 5, 2020- By Senthur Shanmugarasa
Senthur Shanmugarasa gives an inner-party analysis of the repercussions of the media campaign framing former Labour leader Corbyn for antisemitism, and how the new party leader has responded.
Nineteen days after Jeremy Corbyn was suspended from the Labour Party, he was reinstated but was not the given the party whip, meaning he will stand in his Islington North seat (the constituency he has served since 1983) as an independent. In a time where party unity is so vital to effectively challenging the worst government in living memory, establishment stooge Keir Starmer is busy demonising and attacking the left in order to cosy up to the right-wing establishment. The whole saga regarding the report is a purely political move by Keir Starmer in order to win over ex-Labour Voters swayed over to the Tories by negative media portrayals of Corbyn before the last election. The suspension itself raises questions about due process, as Corbyn is essentially being punished for daring to stand up to the vested interests that run this country. At the end of the day, having morals in British politics gets you nowhere.
The suspension came in the wake of Corbyn’s comments regarding the EHRC report into antisemitism in the Labour Party. The very sobering report recognised that there were organisational flaws within the party handling of cases. The crucial caveat which is often overlooked by reporters of the mainstream media is that the party was not found to be institutionally antisemitic, and was also seen to have been improving its complaints handling after the installation of Jennie Formby as General Secretary of the Labour Party in 2018. The party ought to have acknowledged the findings of the report, implemented the recommendations and rebuilt the trust of the Jewish community. Instead, Keir Starmer was too busy playing internal party politics and triggering a Labour civil war.
Corbyn’s response was equally sobering. He acknowledged the criticisms of the report and encouraged swift implementation of its finding as well as offering an apology to Jewish Labour members and the wider community. Corbyn also mentioned that the scale of antisemitism has been exaggerated for political purposes by factional opponents. While this may seem that he is downplaying the level of antisemitism in the party, his comment is undoubtedly correct as shown by the leaked Labour report published earlier this year which demonstrated that right-wing members of the party deliberately mishandled cases to undermine the leadership. Furthermore, Corbyn’s statement is protected by Article 10 of the EHRC report which protects Labour members to express their opinions on the level of Antisemitism in the party.
The suspension and the aftermath are simply more politically motivated moves by Keir Starmer. This is ironic, as he ran his leadership campaign on restoring party unity and integrity as well as a continuation of the Corbyn legacy (policy wise). Since his victory of the leadership, Keir Starmer has sought at every opportunity to marginalise the left as shown by the sacking of former Shadow Education secretary Rebecca Long-Bailey. He clearly thought a bit of McCarthyism would help with winning over the electorate. While kicking the left and creating internal division to ally themselves with the media has been a tried and tested method in the past, Starmer is actually alienating the voter base that made the Labour Party the party in Europe with the greatest income after Corbyn’s election in 2015. Recent figures show up to 57,000 members have left the party since April.
The suspension of Corbyn has no genuine legal grounding, and ignores the key recommendation of the report regarding political interference. All this fiasco tells us is that Starmer is hellbent on purging the left at every opportunity, a far cry from the slogan of unity he ran on during his leadership campaign. The longer Keir drags out this civil war, the more Tories will be rubbing their hands- he ought to remember that the real opposition is a certain Mr Johnson, and not Corbyn.
Senthur Shanmugarasa
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