Jeremy Corbyn: Starmer move flagrant attack on democracy

Former Labour person Jeremy Corbyn has condemned Sir Keir Starmer's determination to barroom him from lasting for the enactment astatine the adjacent wide election, calling it a "flagrant attack" connected democracy.

Mr Corbyn said it was up to section enactment members to take their candidate, not Labour leaders.

The Islington North MP, who sits arsenic an independent, was suspended arsenic a Labour MP successful 2020 successful a enactment implicit antisemitism.

Sir Keir said Labour had changed, and radical who did not similar it could leave.

In a connection posted connected Twitter, Mr Corbyn said: "Keir Starmer's connection astir my aboriginal is simply a flagrant onslaught connected the antiauthoritarian rights of Islington North Labour Party members. It is up to them - not enactment leaders - to determine who their campaigner should be.

"Any effort to artifact my candidacy is simply a denial of owed process, and should beryllium opposed by anybody who believes successful the worth of democracy."

He described Sir Keir's determination arsenic "a divisive distraction from our overriding goal: to decision the Conservative Party astatine the adjacent wide election".

Mr Corbyn has antecedently declined to remark connected speculation helium mightiness basal against Labour arsenic an autarkic campaigner successful Islington North and his latest connection did not code this issue.

But erstwhile shadiness location caput Diane Abbott, 1 of his longest-standing allies, said helium had "no volition of lasting arsenic an independent", having been a subordinate of the Labour Party since helium was 16.

Earlier Sir Keir had confirmed for the archetypal clip that his predecessor arsenic enactment person would not beryllium allowed to correspond Labour astatine the adjacent election, saying the enactment had changed and "we are not going back".

He was speaking astatine a quality league successful eastbound London, aft Britain's equalities watchdog said Labour had improved however it handled antisemitism complaints.

In 2020, the Equality and Human Rights Commission recovered Labour, nether Mr Corbyn, had been liable for unlawful harassment and discrimination.

But a caller study by the watchdog said it was present satisfied capable changes had been made.

Sir Keir said this was "an important infinitesimal successful the past of the Labour Party" but "not 1 for celebration". He stressed it was "not the extremity of the road" and promised "zero tolerance of antisemitism, of racism, of favoritism of immoderate kind".

Labour was "unrecognisable from 2019 and it volition ne'er spell back… if you don't similar that, if you don't similar the changes we person made, I accidental the doorway is unfastened and you tin leave", helium added.

Momentum, the left-wing run radical acceptable up to enactment Mr Corbyn erstwhile helium was Labour leader, has besides called for section members successful Islington North to beryllium allowed to determine their candidate.

The radical said successful a statement: "We... volition not let ourselves to beryllium driven retired of the party. What we've witnessed contiguous is an effort to dishearten and demoralise us.

"The doorway mightiness beryllium unfastened - but we're not leaving."

Mr Corbyn was suspended arsenic a Labour MP by Sir Keir for saying, successful his effect to the 2020 EHRC report, that the standard of antisemitism wrong Labour had been"dramatically overstated" by his opponents and overmuch of the media.

He besides said antisemitism was "absolutely abhorrent" and "one antisemite is 1 excessively many" successful the party.

He was readmitted to the wider enactment aft saying concerns astir antisemitism had been neither "exaggerated nor overstated", but helium remains barred from representing Labour successful Parliament.

Mr Corbyn led Labour to decision successful the 2017 and 2019 wide elections but remains a fashionable fig with galore connected the near of the party. From 2016, Sir Keir was a cardinal subordinate of his shadiness cabinet, speaking for the enactment connected Brexit.