Jeremy Corbyn will never stand for Labour again, say senior figures

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Jeremy Corbyn will never stand for Labour again, say senior figures

Reinstating whip to former leader ‘would be toxic’ to party’s chances of winning general election

Aletha Adu Political correspondent, Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot
Mon 14 Nov 2022 06.00 GMT

Jeremy Corbyn will never be permitted to stand as a Labour MP at an election again, senior Labour figures have said.

The former Labour leader was told last year he had to apologise for his claims that the extent of antisemitism in the party had been “dramatically overstated”.

Keir Starmer has refused to restore the whip to his predecessor, effectively suspending him from the parliamentary party, unless he does so.

However, the Guardian understands that even if Corbyn does apologise “unequivocally, unambiguously and without reservation” the leadership would be reluctant to let him return.

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/14/jeremy-corbyn-will-never-stand-for-labour-again-say-senior-figures

[OnDoutside]

1. Good, and I hope Starmer stands firm on that.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. I'm confused which party is in play here ...

"The former Labour leader was told last year he had to apologise for his claims that the extent of antisemitism in the party had been “dramatically overstated”."

The Labour Party itself?

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Yes, the Labour Party

There were many accusations of verbal or political attacks on Jewish Labour MPs and councillors. A lot of it was tied up with stances on Israel and Palestine, and whether support for Palestinians had to be the overriding factor in Labour's attitude. Corbyn and his officials were accused of turning a blind eye to the antisemitism, or of their pro-Palestine position being so extreme that it was antisemitic itself.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

5. So he wasn't so much defending Labour as a whole, but really, rather, himself?

And the general consensus is that ... he's very wrong to do so, because it's obvious he is really a raging antisemite, and won't admit it let alone apologize for it, so it's cancel-worthy?

[muriel_volestrangler]

6. I don't know if it's correct to say the "general" opinion is that he's a "raging" antisemite

I don't think the "general" opinion in the country thinks about his attitude on this one way or the other; the majority of the Labour Party, and its potential voters, probably think he's wrong on the issue, and turned a blind eye to a real problem because the worst culprits were also strong supporters of his. It was also taken up by the Tories as a useful cudgel to use against Labour, whether or not the Tories were really outraged at the antisemitism (because you can probably find as much antisemitism among them, albeit for different reasons, if you examine them closely).

[Emrys]

7. The accusations of "raging antisemitism" gained more currency in the US than in the UK,

which is why it's an absolute waste of time trying to talk about them and the Labour Party during the Corbyn era on a US-dominated forum starting from the sort of groundbase of belief typified by your reply.

But to waste just a little of my time, right-wing factions within Labour weaponized a number of issues to muddy the name of Corbyn and the vast influx of supporters his time as leader brought the party, and literally worked to sabotage Labour's prospects in the run-up to the last election, and our media and yours lapped it up wholesale.

Some time spent on Google yourself would probably be more useful if you really want to understand the situation and its development, as the severely sceptical are unlikely to believe any I supply, but here's just a few:

London School of Economics study "Journalistic Representations of Jeremy Corbyn in the British Press": https://www.lse.ac.uk/media-and-communications/research/research-projects/representations-of-jeremy-corbyn

Media Reform Coalition report "Labour, Antisemitism and the News: A Disinformation Paradigm": https://www.mediareform.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Labour-anti-semitism-and-the-news-EXEC-SUM-FINAL-PROOFED.pdf

Scottish Daily Record: "Secret Scottish-based office led infowars attack on Labour and Jeremy Corbyn: Explosive leaked documents passed to the Sunday Mail reveal the organisation’s Integrity Initiative is funded with £2million of Foreign Office cash and run by military intelligence specialists": https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/politics/foreign-office-funds-2m-infowars-13707574

Monthly Review report "Anatomy of a Propaganda Campaign: Jeremy Corbyn’s Political Assassination" (includes a section on the antisemitism accusations and the fact that Labour's record on that issue was no worse, and probably slightly better, than the Tories' and that of the general population, as has been borne out by a number of reputable academic studies): https://monthlyreview.org/2022/02/01/anatomy-of-a-propaganda-campaign-jeremy-corbyns-political-assassination/

For some sort of balance and a more or less Establishment overview, a BBC article: "A guide to Labour Party anti-Semitism claims": https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-45030552

I'm not a Labour supporter, BTW, haven't been for decades, and have a history of being critical of Corbyn on this board for my own reasons.

Whatever, what we're left with is a Labour Party under Starmer that's very vocally hell-bent on following the Tory Party down some very dark sociocultural holes (like its stance on immigration) and avoiding addressing some of the main issues that have made the UK such a disaster zone (particularly Brexit).

[Hugh_Lebowski]

8. Sounds like you're thinking I knew stuff I really didn't know at all

And I'm not severely skeptical.

I was asking questions because I knew FA about the situation.

Was trying to piece together why it could possibly be such a horrible thing to defend yourself (and/or your party) against charges of anti-semitism ... cause it came off like the guy is being cancelled for not apologizing for his own defense.

Seemed pretty overboard afa a reaction goes.

Thanks for the addt'l facts

[Emrys]

9. I'm very sorry indeed for jumping to conclusions about what you know and think.

Maybe you'll be able to understand my wariness and weariness about trying to talk about such issues on forums such as DU's.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

10. No problem :) nt

[Indykatie]

3. I'm Glad the Labour Party Finally Learned How Toxic Corbyn Is

[DickKessler]

11. The UK really dodged a bullet by not electing his version of Labour.

[T_i_B]

12. As bad as Corbyn was as Labour leader

His failures played a major role in saddling us with Boris f**king Johnson. So no we didn't dodge any bullets.