Corbyn issues plea amid backlash over his readmission to Labour

Jeremy Corbyn has called on Labour to “come together” amid an angry backlash over his readmission to the party just weeks after he was suspended from it.

The former opposition leader said he was “pleased” to have been reinstated in the party and thanked “members, trade unionists and all who have offered solidarity”.

He tweeted: “Our movement must now come together to oppose and defeat this deeply damaging Conservative government.”

Mr Corbyn had the whip withdrawn and was suspended from the party last month over his response to a damning Equality and Human Rights Commission ( EHRC) report which found that Labour had broken the law in its handling of anti-Semitism complaints.

He said the scale of anti-Semitism in the party was “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by opponents and “much of the media”.

Mr Corbyn later sought to clarify the remarks, but his reinstatement has been met with fierce opposition.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer repeated his vow to establish an independent complaints process as he responded to his predecessor Mr Corbyn’s reinstatement to the party.

He said: “I will not allow a focus on one individual to prevent us from doing the vital work of tackling anti-Semitism.

“When I stood as leader of the Labour Party, I was clear that my first priority would be to root out antiSemitism. It still is.”

Senior Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge, who is Jewish, said she could not “comprehend” why it is acceptable for him to be a Labour MP “if he thinks anti-Semitism is exaggerated and a political attack”.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said the decision was a “retrograde step for the party in its relations with the Jewish community” and warned that “Labour’s mountain to climb to win back the trust of our community just got higher”.

Jeremy Corbyn.