Sir Keir Starmer has said former Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn will not be part of the party at the next general election, as he vowed to take a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, the leader of the opposition reiterated his apologies “to all those who were hurt” and “those who suffered the most terrible torture” and stressed that, according to him, Labor had changed “permanently, fundamentally, irrevocably” .
Starmer’s comments marked the sharpest break yet with Corbyn, who was leader between 2015 and 2020, and came after Britain’s equality watchdog said it was “satisfied with the actions” Labor is taking to tackle antisemitism.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission said it was “done [its] monitor” at the end of January because it is “satisfied that Labor has implemented the necessary actions to improve its . . procedures for legal standards are required”.
Hailing the ECHR’s decision as an “important moment”, Starmer said it also represented “a moment of further apology”.
“For all those who have suffered, for all those who have been let down, for all those who have been expelled from our party, who do not feel married, who have suffered the most terrible abuse, today, for the entire Labor Party. , I: I’m sorry,” he said .
Insisting that he would “never again” be held back by “narrow interests”, Starmer also insisted that Corbyn would not represent the party at the next election. “What I said about the party changing, I mean, and we’re not going back, and that’s why Jeremy Corbyn is not going to be the Labor candidate,” he said.
Currently, Corbyn sits as an independent MP for Islington North after being suspended in October 2020.
Corbyn’s suspension comes after the ECHR said in October 2020 that an investigation into antisemitism in the party “identified serious failures in leadership” and “inadequate processes for dealing with complaints of antisemitism”.
The watchdog, which launched its investigation in May 2019, called on Labor to draw up an “action plan” and found that “antisemitism . . . could be dealt with more effectively if leaders had chosen to do so.
Corbyn’s comments following the publication of the report in 2020, which suggested that the level of antisemitism in the party had been overstated, led to Starmer withdrawing the whip from him.
Admitting his work was not “done”, Starmer on Wednesday said his “zero tolerance” stance on the matter was part of a push to “bring this party back to the British people”.
Labor will “never again lose its purpose or morals. And it will no longer be brought to its knees by racism or bigotry.
“If you don’t like it, if you don’t like the changes that have been made, I say the door is open and you can leave.”
At statementCorbyn described Starmer’s promise to prevent people from standing as “a flagrant attack on the democratic rights of Islington North Labor party members” and “divisive interference” from winning the next General Election.
“Any attempt to block my candidacy is a denial of due process, and should be opposed by anyone who believes in the value of democracy,” he said.