Starmer rules out Corbyn standing for Labour at next election
Asked by BBC Radio 4 if he could see former leader Jeremy Corbyn defending his Islington North seat as a Labour candidate, Keir Starmer says:'I don't see the circumstances in which that can happen'
Lee Harpin is the Jewish News's political editor
Sir Keir Starmer has effectively ruled out the prospect of Jeremy Corbyn standing as a Labour candidate at the next election telling BBC Radio 4:”I don’t see the circumstances in which that can happen.”
The Labour leader was asked if could see a possible scenario in which Corbyn would defend his seat in Islington North as a candidate for the party.
Corbyn was suspended from Labour in November 2020 after suggesting that the scale of antisemitism in Labour party, revealed in a report by the equalities watchdog the EHRC, was “dramatically overstated” by his political rivals.
Appearing on Radio 4 on Monday, Starmer was asked if he could see a circumstance in which Corbyn stood for Labour again at the next election.
He told BBC Radio 4: “I don’t see the circumstances in which that can happen.
“We have not got to the selection of that particular constituency yet, but I don’t see the circumstances in which Jeremy Corbyn will stand as a Labour candidate.”
Asked about whether Corbyn would stand as an independent candidate against Labour, Starmer replied: “I can only speak for the Labour party. I can’t speak for Jeremy.”
The ex-leader, who was initially suspended both from the Labour Party and had the whip removed as an MP, has been offered the opportunity of issuing a full apology to the Jewish community for his comments but has so far failed to respond to the opportunity presented to him by the chief whip.
Corbyn was later readmitted to the party when he said the concerns about antisemitism, were neither “exaggerated nor overstated”.
Starmer said he could not return as a Labour MP and would continue to have to sit as an independent in the Commons.
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