Jeremy Corbyn has been suspended from the Labour party “pending investigation”. He has also had the whip removed from the parliamentary Labour party.
Keir Starmer’s spokesperson says the decision to suspend Corbyn was made “In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation. He has also had the whip removed from the Parliamentary Labour Party.”
Equality and Human Rights Commission launched an inquiry after getting complaints about antisemitism within Labour during Corbyn’s time as leader. The inquiry finds Labour responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination over antisemitism.
In a Facebook post responding to the EHRC report, the former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has rejected the overall conclusions of the report.
Corbyn said in his statement: “One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.
“That combination hurt Jewish people and must never be repeated. My sincere hope is that relations with Jewish communities can be rebuilt and those fears overcome. While I do not accept all of its findings, I trust its recommendations will be swiftly implemented to help move on from this period.”
Corbyn said that when he took over as Labour leader in 2015, “the party’s processes for handling complaints were not fit for purpose”. He added: “Reform was then stalled by an obstructive party bureaucracy.”
The report does not lay blame directly with Corbyn but the EHRC’s lead investigator, Alasdair Henderson, said the failure of leadership must ultimately stop with him.
