Jeremy Corbyn says suspension is a ‘political issue’
The Corbyn saga continued this week after his lawyers accused party leader Sir Keir of making “inflammatory and disingenuous” attacks on his predecessor. This was following a heated row over the party’s handling of antisemitism under Mr Corbyn last year. Mr Corbyn was briefly suspended from the Labour Party but later readmitted without the whip.
His legal team is now set to present documents that “prove” there was a deal in place to readmit Mr Corbyn to the party, with the suspension having gone “behind an agreement to reinstate” him to Labour “at all levels”.
Christopher Jacobs, Mr Corbyn’s barrister, told a High Court hearing on Monday: “The disclosure will enable my client to plead that there was procedural unfairness, and breach of a duty to act in good faith.”
The move could inflame tensions and further fissure a deep divide between Sir Keir’s moderate allies and more radical elements of the party.
Mr Corbyn still has considerable influence within Labour in the form of “Corbynite” MPs and trade unions, some of the party’s biggest donors.
Labour: The party faces a civil war as Keir Starmer takes on Corbynite MPs (Image: GETTY)
Jeremy Corbyn: The former leader’s lawyers say they have a case against Starmer (Image: GETTY)
Many have already voiced their support for the former leader, a number of whom are prominent backbenchers like Dianne Abbott, Clive Lewis, Rebecca Long-Bailey, John McDonnell, and Richard Burgon.
Len McCluskey, general secretary of Unite the Union, has also backed Mr Corbyn and taken aim at Sir Keir’s “moderate” political standing.
All of this is something that Paul Embery, a trade unionist and Labour member, told Express.co.uk plays into Sir Keir’s hands and helps him to keep a distance between the Labour of the past and his “new management” vision for the party.
He said: “I think there’s a danger trade union leaders, and Corbynites in general, are playing into Starmer’s hands.
“If the unions withdraw money because of Starmer’s treatment of Corbyn I think that probably does play into his hands because he wants to do everything he can to distance himself from Corbyn and Corbynism.
“If that means that is a battle with some of the main supporters of Corbyn including union leaders, then I don’t think he’s going to shy away from it, he’ll see that as something to his benefit.”
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Keir Starner: The Labour leader is trying to distance himself from the party’s radical element (Image: GETTY)
Mr McCluskey famously withdrew around 10 percent of Unite’s funding in October 2019, amounting to around £150,000.
The move attracted much interest as Unite is Labour’s single biggest donor.
Mr Embery added: “The trade unions need to think about that and I would urge them not to enter into a civil war but to concentrate on representing members who need the support of unions up and down the country.”
Many political experts have noted that Mr McCluskey and Corbynite MPs will likely back Sir Keir despite their opposition.
Dr Jonathan Mellon, a senior politics researcher and co-director of the British Election Study at the University of Manchester, told Express.co.uk that their only other option is Tory rule.
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Len McCluskey: The trade union leader is a close ally of Corbyn (Image: GETTY)
Trade unions: Corbyn repositioned trade unions in the Labour Party and gave them more influence (Image: GETTY)
Dr Mellon said: “I’m certainly not an expert on the funding modelling of political parties.
“I think in general the unions of course are not going to want another Tory term, regardless of who’s the head of Labour, but if push comes to shove they would prefer to go and back Keir Starmer rather than implicitly back another five years of a Boris Johnson Government.
“It’s hard to see the unions doing anything that really fundamentally commits to another Conservative Government given their general political preferences.”
In the run-up to Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, Mr McCluskey, an ardent Remainer, conceded that Labour MPs should back the Tories in getting a deal through.
Brexit: Starmer has flip-flopped on his Brexit policy over the years (Image: Express Newspapers)
He used a Times Radio appearance to call on the Shadow Cabinet to stop “sitting on the fence”.
The majority of Labour MPs did, with the exception of 37 who abstained or voted against the deal.
Those 37 MPs have been tipped to “rebuild” in the future, potentially regrouping to their former radical self.
Steven Fielding, Professor of Political History at the University of Nottingham, told Express.co.uk that this “small group” will push against Sir Keir’s changes.
He said: “There’s certainly a small number of Labour MPs who will never think he’s going far enough, and never will.
Dianne Abbott: The MP is among a number of backbenchers who abstained from the Brexit deal vote (Image: GETTY)
“Certain individuals like Richard Burgon, and organisations like Momentum are always going to criticise him for not doing enough because they always measure him against what Jeremy would have done.
“But they can be discounted – they’re not really serious.
“Within the internal politics of the Labour Party, they’re obviously playing for a certain position, and are hoping for at some point they’ll be able to rebuild.
“But just now, they’re simply harping, they’re not serious figures, at least not yet.”
