Starmer Won’t Let Corbyn Sit as U.K. Labour MP Over Racism Row

(Bloomberg) -- Keir Starmer, leader of the U.K.'s opposition Labour Party, said he will not allow his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn back into the parliamentary group even though his suspension from the national party has been lifted.

Starmer's decision on Wednesday, which risks igniting a fresh civil war between factions in the party, means Corbyn will not be able to sit as a Labour lawmaker in Parliament.

The former leader was suspended from Labour on Oct. 29 after he failed to accept in full the findings of a report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) into antisemitism in the party which found the party broke the law on his watch.

Corbyn was readmitted to the national party on Tuesday evening following a meeting of its ruling body, but Starmer said he decided not to “restore the whip” to Corbyn and allow him back into the parliamentary party. Corbyn will sit as an independent MP and Starmer said he will keep the situation under review.

“I'm the leader of the Labour Party, but I'm also the leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party,” Starmer said in a statement. “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 antisemitism.”

U.K. Labour Suspends Jeremy Corbyn After Anti-Semitism Probe (1)

Accusations of antisemitism hampered Labour's bid for government under Corbyn, who led the party to its worst electoral defeat in 85 years in December. Starmer had been under pressure from campaigners and lawmakers not to let Corbyn back into the Westminster group.

The EHRC found in October that Labour had breached the Equality Act through its handling of complaints of anti-Jewish racism while Corbyn was leader. In response to the report, Corbyn said he did “not accept all of its findings” and that the problem was “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by the media and his opponents.

The decision to reinstate Corbyn back into the party on Tuesday was criticized by a number of Labour politicians, including member of Parliament Margaret Hodge who called the move “ridiculous.”