Following a 19-day suspension over antisemitic remarks, Jeremy Corbyn has been reinstated into the Labour Party.
He was suspended following his remark that the scale of anti-Semitism in the party had been "overstated" in response to a report by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission. Corbyn issued a statement saying he regretted any "pain" caused but has not apologised for his statement, only clarified what he had meant.
However, the Jewish Labour Movement called the decision to reinstate Jeremy Corbyn “extraordinary”, “after his failure, so clearly set out in the EHRC's report, any reasonable and fair-minded observer would see Jeremy Corbyn's statement today as insincere and wholly inadequate.” Many believe that the reinstatement of Corbyn goes against Labour’s zero-tolerance approach.
No decision has been made on whether to restore the Labour whip to Jeremy Corbyn, which would allow him to sit as one of its MPs once again. This decision would need to be made by the Labour leader - Keir Starmer - and the chief whip, Nick Brown.
After it was decided that Corbyn would be reinstated, Starmer tweeted that it was “another painful day for the Jewish community and those Labour members who have fought so hard to tackle antisemitism”. He said Corbyn’s statement in response to the EHRC “completely distracted from a report that identified unlawful conduct in our tackling of racism within the Labour party. This should shame us all.”
However, Labour will likely be moving on from this controversy. Starmer said, “I will not allow a focus on one individual to prevent us from doing vital work of tackling antisemitism.” The party wants to distance itself from a destructive period in its recent past - which can be seen with the swift suspension of Corbyn. The line Keir Starmer wants to draw under antisemitism in the Labour Party hasn’t been fully established.
Written by Ty Sparkes
Artwork by Zara Masood
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