Starmer reneged on deal, claims Corbyn

JEREMY Corbyn will try to prove that his successor as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer went back on a private deal to readmit him to the party in a forthcoming legal case.

The former leader will attempt to establish that staff from Sir Keir’s office attended private meetings at which an agreement was discussed. Mr Corbyn was suspended from the party after claiming the scale of Labour antiSemitism under his leadership was ‘dramatically overstated’.

In the wake of the decision, he published a statement to ‘clarify’ his response to an Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report found the party discriminated against Jewish people.

However, Sir Keir continued to withhold the whip and Mr Corbyn

– who was leader from 2015 to this year – now sits as an independent MP. Sources close to Sir Keir dispute the private deal claims and say the leader would not become involved in the decision.

The Guardian said last night said there was evidence of exchanges between key members of Sir Keir’s office and Mr Corbyn’s representatives, implying that private meetings took place.

Meanwhile, a poll of 5,000 Labour members found that more than half disagree with Mr Corbyn’s response to the party breaking equality law. Fifty-eight per cent said they had a ‘negative’ view of his reaction to the EHRC report.