Jeremy Corbyn: Former Labour Party leader to have whip suspended for three months

Jeremy Corbyn will remain suspended from the parliamentary Labour Party for three months, despite claims of “deliberate political interference” from members of its ruling National Executive Committee (NEC).

Labour’s chief whip, Nick Brown, wrote to the former Labour leader on Thursday night, informing him that the whip had been suspended for three months pending an investigation, according to The Guardian.

It is understood that the probe will seek to confirm whether Mr Corbyn broke the parliamentary party’s code of conduct in his response to an equalities watchdog report on Labour’s handling of antisemitism.

The EHRC investigation found that Labour’s disciplinary process was not fit for purpose, and that the party broke the law in its mishandling of antisemitism complaints.

Jeremy Corbyn will remain suspended from the parliamentary Labour Party for three months, despite claims of “deliberate political interference” from members of its ruling National Executive Committee (NEC). (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Mr Corbyn was suspended from Labour in late October for claiming the scale of the party’s problem with antisemitism had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by opponents and the media.

His membership was reinstated earlier this week after a vote by the NEC’s disputes panel found in his favour, but the parliamentary whip was not immediately restored.

A letter from left-aligned members of Labour’s NEC to the general secretary, David Evans, says: “The decision of the leader the following day to withhold the whip from Jeremy Corbyn MP is an act of deliberate political interference in the handling of a complaint.

“It defies the decision of the NEC panel, is a matter of double jeopardy that flies in the face of natural justice, it undermines the rule book and it is precisely the type of action found to be unlawful indirect discrimination by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission [EHRC] report.”

The letter called on Mr Evans to discipline Sir Keir Starmer for undermining confidence in the NEC’s disputes process, and said the Labour party would face legal action as a result of the decision to withhold the whip from Mr Corbyn.

It is also understood that Mr Corbyn’s lawyers have also written to the party, questioning whether procedures were properly followed.

On Wednesday, a motion agreed at a meeting of the Edinburgh Central Labour party expressed solidarity with Mr Corbyn, and called for “unity, not division”.

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