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Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn ‘reinstated to Labour Party’
Jeremy Corbyn will be readmitted to the Labour Party just weeks after he was suspended for saying the scale of antisemitism in the party was “dramatically overstated”, it is understood.
A source close to the former opposition leader said the Islington North MP would be readmitted, though not yet formally told, following a meeting of the disputes panel of the party’s ruling National Executive Committee today (November 17).
Mr Corbyn had the whip withdrawn for his response to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC’s) report, which found the party had broken the law in its handling of antisemitism complaints.
He said while “one antisemite is one too many” 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”.
READ MORE: Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn suspended from Labour Party after antisemitism reportNow Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said people who believed it was “exaggerated, or a factional attack” were “part of the problem” and “should be nowhere near the Labour Party either”.
However, ahead of a meeting of the disputes committee today, Mr Corbyn acknowledged concerns around antisemitism in Labour were not “exaggerated”.
He had given a statement to the party in an attempt to “clear up any confusion” over his initial response and a broadcast interview given in the wake of the report.
In a statement aimed at clarifying his comments, Mr Corbyn said: “We must never tolerate antisemitism or belittle concerns about it. And that was not my intention in anything I said this week.
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“I regret the pain this issue has caused the Jewish community and would wish to do nothing that would exacerbate or prolong it.
“To be clear, concerns about antisemitism are neither ‘exaggerated’ nor ‘overstated’.
“The point I wished to make was that the vast majority of Labour Party members were and remain committed anti-racists deeply opposed to antisemitism.”
