Starmer urged to show ‘backbone’ on Corbyn
SIR KEIR STARMER was accused of lacking “backbone” after he yesterday refused to condemn Jeremy Corbyn and senior Labour figures suggested the door was now open for the former leader’s return.
The Labour leader yesterday held private talks with Len Mccluskey, the leader of Unite, Labour’s biggest financial backer, alongside David Evans, the party’s general secretary, fuelling speculation of a climbdown.
It came as allies of Sir Keir suggested that Mr Corbyn could be reinstated if he apologised and retracted his claim that the scale of anti-semitism in Labour had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
Nia Griffith, the shadow Welsh secretary, said: “I’m sure that there can be a way back if that’s what he chooses.”
Separately, John Mcdonnell, the former shadow chancellor, suggested Mr Corbyn should issue a clarification, as he warned the dispute was at risk of “drifting towards a hell of a row”.
Speaking after the meeting with Mr Mccluskey, one insider told The Daily Telegraph that Sir Keir had made “soothing noises”, with talks expected to continue into the weekend.
However, party sources insisted any decision on Mr Corbyn’s case would be made independently of Sir Keir by Mr Evans and the head of Labour’s governance and legal unit.
The shift in tone over the past 24 hours is likely to alarm anti-semitism campaigners and party moderates, who on Thursday had hailed Mr Corbyn’s suspension as a watershed moment.
Last night a former Labour MP who quit in protest over Mr Corbyn’s failure to deal with anti-jewish sentiment urged the party to stand firm, adding that caving in now would be seen as an “act of weakness”. The Conservatives
‘With a bit of explanation over what was meant, we could all save ourselves a lot of unnecessary grief’
also sought to ratchet up pressure on Sir Keir, with Michael Gove accusing him of failing to stand up to Mr Corbyn during his time in the shadow cabinet.
In a letter, Mr Gove urged him to set out why Mr Corbyn had not been expelled and whether his suspension prevented him from standing as a Labour candidate at the next election.
“This is a question of leadership. It is easy to take a position on anti-semitism in hindsight, but you seemingly found it much harder to find the moral character and backbone to do what was right at the time,” he wrote.
Sir Keir also came under pressure from the Left of his own party as the campaign group Momentum last night held a virtual rally demanding Mr Corbyn’s immediate reinstatement.
Those j oining the online event included Mr Mcdonnell as well as former frontbenchers Richard Burgon and Diane Abbott. Speaking at the event, Mr Mcdonnell said the suspension was “profoundly wrong” and “must be reversed”. He urged Labour members to remain in the party, and said they had to acknowledge that anti-semitism has “over time penetrated our party”.
He added: “My appeal is for unity, for clarification that we are all on the same page when it comes to wanting to tackle anti-semitism, and the way that we do that is all of us, we stay in the party – this is our Labour Party.”
Ms Abbott said it was “vital” that Mr
Corbyn was reinstated to the party. Labour branches nationwide also continued to report a slew of resignations from members, while a Yougov poll suggested Sir Keir’s favourability among Labour members had slumped by 13 points.
Allies of Mr Corbyn, who has amassed a £350,000 war chest from supporters’ donations, claimed he was prepared to take legal action unless his suspension was lifted. But signalling his desire to draw the controversy to a swift conclusion, Sir Keir appealed for unity, insisting there was “no reason for a civil war”.
While reiterating he had been “deeply disappointed” by Mr Corbyn’s statement, he repeatedly refused to say if he believed him to be anti-semitic.
Pressed a third time, he told the BBC: “I don’t see Jeremy Corbyn in that light.”
Asked i f Mr Corbyn could be expelled, he said: “It’s not for me to say what process should be followed – that’s for the general secretary.”
Speaking afterwards, Mr Mcdonnell said: “Keir Starmer this morning has said he doesn’t want a civil war in the Labour Party. Let’s be clear: nobody does. But it seems we are drifting towards a hell of a row over use of language, misinterpretation, followed by overreaction. My advice is that with a bit of explanation over what was meant in various statements we could all save ourselves a lot of unnecessary grief and get on with tackling Covid and job cuts.”
His comments were echoed by Jon Lansman, co-founder of Momentum, who said: “We could do with more of this diplomacy from the Left just now, fewer war cries and a lot more concern for the victims of racism.” Mr Mccluskey, who only 24 hours beforehand accused Sir Keir of unleashing “chaos”, also appeared to soften his tone, telling reporters: “Now is the time for some calmness to see if we can resolve this.”
Their interventions were welcomed by senior party moderates, suggesting that a solution could soon be on the horizon. One insider said Mr Corbyn now had the opportunity to respond to questions submitted to him in his disciplinary letter, which would enable him to either clarify or retract his remarks.
Mr Corbyn has already publicly claimed that he was not attempting to play down the severity of the problem but merely pointing out that the number of complaints against Labour members was lower than widely thought.
Several Labour sources suggested Mr Corbyn would need to both retract and apologise for his remarks. They pointed out that Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, had on Thursday urged Mr Corbyn to do that, and that his refusal had triggered his suspension.