Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn due in Wales for lecture
FORMER Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will be at the centre of controversy again this weekend when he travels to Wales to deliver a lecture.
Despite having had the Labour whip withdrawn from him over his refusal to withdraw statements that the crisis of antisemitism within the party under his leadership was exaggerated, he will be giving the SO Davies Memorial Lecture at Merthyr Labour Club.
The lecture will take place at a time when speculation is mounting that Mr Corbyn will stand for election as an Independent at the next general election if the whip is not restored to him.
He has represented the London seat of Islington North since 1983 and has been a popular constituency MP.
But the party’s new leadership under Sir Keir Starmer blames Mr Corbyn for Labour’s heavy defeat at the last election in 2019, when its number of seats fell to the lowest total since the 1930s.
Nevertheless, his support remains strong on the left of the party and he has accepted an invitation from Merthyr Tydfil Trades Union Council to deliver a lecture at the town’s Labour club on Saturday afternoon at 2pm.
Ironically the lecture is in memory of SO Davies, who was the MP for Merthyr for 38 years from 1934, and before that a councillor in the town and a senior official of the South Wales Miners’ Federation, forerunner of the National Union of Mineworkers.
Seen as one of the most left-wing Labour MPs, Davies was deselected by members of the local party in the run-up to the 1970 general election.
He stood as an Independent and defeated the official Labour candidate by 7,467 votes.
In February 1985 Davies died at the age of 85.
The seat was won back by Labour at the subsequent by-election, and has been held by the party ever since.
Senior Labour officials have briefed the media that Mr Corbyn will not have the whip restored to him, meaning that he will be unable to stand as a Labour candidate in Islington North, where he is thought to have majority support in the constituency party.
Nevertheless, party rules make it clear that any member who backs a rival who stands against the official Labour candidate will face expulsion.
Mr Corbyn’s forthcoming lecture has been promoted on social media by, among others, the Cynon Valley Labour MP Beth Winter, the only Welsh MP who belongs to the leftwing Socialist Campaign group of Labour MPs.
Neither the local MP Gerald Jones, a shadow Welsh Office minister, or MS Dawn Bowden, the Welsh Government’s Deputy Culture Minister, are promoting the lecture and neither are expected to attend.
Few party members will comment on the record about Mr Corbyn’s imminent visit, for fear of facing disciplinary action.
One party member who didn’t wish to be named said: “It’s an extraordinary situation when a Labour MP from a neighbouring constituency is prepared to promote a lecture by an MP who has lost the whip and about whom there is open speculation that he will stand as an Independent candidate who will stand against Labour at the general election.
“Meanwhile, the local MP and MS are steering well clear of the flak.”
A source close to Ms Bowden said she would be undertaking ministerial duties at the weekend.
Ms Winter did not respond to messages we sent to her and her staff.
Councillor Darren Roberts, leader of the opposition Labour group on Merthyr Tydfil council, said: “I’m aware of the event but I’ll be busy on Saturday anyway. This is something I’ve not given any thought to.
“So far as I am concerned, Jeremy Corbyn is welcome in Merthyr.”