Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

UK opposition party suspends former leader over anti-Semitism

UK opposition party suspends former leader over anti-Semitism

The shock development came after Jeremy Corbyn said he refused to accept all the findings of a government watchdog’s report that found his office broke equality law.


Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn pictured while still in post in November last year.


Britain’s main opposition Labour Party on Thursday suspended its former leader Jeremy Corbyn, after a government watchdog found his office broke equality law through its “inexcusable” handling of anti-Semitism complaints.

The shock development came after Corbyn said he refused to accept all the findings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) report, in defiance of the party’s new leadership under Keir Starmer.

“In the light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation,” a spokesman said.

He said that Corbyn, who has continued to sit as a member of parliament after stepping down as leader, will also no longer count in the ranks of Labour MPs.

The EHRC found damning instances where Corbyn’s leadership team underplayed, belittled or ignored complaints by Jewish members, and sometimes actively interfered to support favoured allies, after a deluge of anti-Semitic abuse online and in party meetings.

Luciana Berger, a former Labour MP who was one of many Jewish members to quit the party under Corbyn, said the report was vindication as she described being threatened by his supporters with acid attack, stabbing and rape.

“The party facilitated a culture of bullying, bigotry and intimidation against Jewish people from within its ranks. At every step of the way, Jeremy Corbyn enabled this to happen,” she wrote in a blog.

In one of his first acts after replacing Corbyn in April, Starmer apologised to Britain’s Jewish community, and on Thursday he vowed to accept the entirety of the findings from the EHRC’s two-year investigation.


Labour leader Keir Starmer pictured in the House of Commons earlier this month.


“I found this report hard to read and it is a day of shame for the Labour Party,” Starmer told a news conference, renewing apologies also to Berger and other Jewish members who left the party in droves.

“I can promise you this: I will act. Never again will Labour let you down. Never again will we fail to tackle anti-Semitism,” he said.

“The Labour Party accepts this report in full and without equivocation,” he added, vowing implementation immediately and “in full”.

Responding to the report, Corbyn said anti-Semitism was “absolutely abhorrent” and insisted his team had launched internal changes to tackle the problem from 2018. But he said he did “not accept all of its findings”.

“One anti-Semite is one too many, but 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,” he added.

Starmer refused to say whether he would now expel Corbyn and his allies from the party but said Labour had suffered a “collective failure of leadership”. “Those who deny the problem are part of the problem,” he added.

Corbyn was propelled from the backbenches to become Labour leader in 2015 after decades of socialist activism, including for Palestinian causes.

Among his supporters, criticism of Israel veered often into anti-Semitic tropes and anti-Jewish conspiracies.

“Our investigation has highlighted multiple areas where [Labour’s] approach and leadership to tackling anti-Semitism was insufficient,” the EHRC’s interim chair, Caroline Waters, said in presenting the 129-page report.

“This is inexcusable and appeared to be a result of a lack of willingness to tackle anti-Semitism rather than an inability to do so,” she said.

The commission said that under Corbyn, Labour was guilty of three breaches of Britain’s 2010 Equality Act for political interference in complaints, failure to provide adequate training to those handling anti-Semitism cases and harassment of complainants.

But it stopped short of launching legal proceedings, instead ordering Labour to draft an action plan by December 10 to remedy its failures.

Corbyn triggered a leadership election after Labour suffered a hammering in a general election last December, which returned the Conservatives to power under Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews and two other Jewish organisations said the report was a “damning verdict on what Labour did to Jews under Jeremy Corbyn and his allies”.

“We welcome the start that Keir Starmer has made, but the scale of the challenge that lies ahead should not be underestimated,” they said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Explosions Rock Doha as Iranian Missiles Target Qatar
“You Have 12 Hours to Flee”: Israeli Threat Campaign Targets Surviving Iranian Officials
Oman Set to Introduce Personal Income Tax, First in Gulf
Germany and Italy Under Pressure to Repatriate $245bn of Gold from US Vaults
Iran Intensifies Crackdown on Alleged Mossad Operatives After Sabotage Claims
Trump Praises Iran’s ‘Very Weak’ Response After U.S. Strikes and Presses Israel to Pursue Peace
WATCH: Israeli forces show the aftermath of a massive airstrike at Iran's Isfahan nuclear site
We have new information and breaking details to share about what is shaping up to be a historic air campaign tonight
Six Massive Bombs Dropped on Fordow; Trump: 'A Historic Moment for the U.S., Israel, and the World'
Fordow: Deeply Buried Iranian Enrichment Site in U.S.–Israel Crosshairs
United States Conducts Precision Strikes on Iran’s Nuclear Sites
US strikes Iran nuclear sites, Trump says
Pakistan to nominate Trump for Nobel Peace Prize.
Israel Confirms Assassination of Quds Force Commander in Tehran
16 Billion Login Credentials Leaked in Unprecedented Cybersecurity Breach
Senate hearing on who was 'really running' Biden White House kicks off
G7 Leaders Fail to Reach Consensus on Key Global Issues
Mass exodus in Tehran as millions try to flee following Trump’s evacuation order
Iranian Military Officers Reportedly Seek Contact with Reza Pahlavi, Signal Intent to Defect
Vietnam Emerges as Luxury Yacht Destination for Ultra‑Rich
China's Iranian Oil Imports Face Disruption Amid Escalating Middle East Tensions
Trump Demands Iran's Unconditional Surrender Amid Escalating Conflict
Israeli Airstrike Targets Iranian State TV in Central Tehran
President Trump is leaving the G7 summit early and has ordered the National Security Council to the Situation Room
Netanyahu Signals Potential Regime Change in Iran
Analysts Warn Iran May Resort to Unconventional Warfare
Iranian Regime Faces Existential Threat Amid Conflict
Energy Infrastructure Becomes War Zone in Middle East
Iran Conducts Ballistic Missile Launches Amid Heightened Tensions with Israel
Iran Signals Openness to Nuclear Negotiations Amid Ongoing Regional Tensions
Shock Within Iran’s Leadership: Khamenei’s Failed Plan to Launch 1,000 Missiles Against Israel
Trump's Anti-War Stance Tested Amid Israel-Iran Conflict
UK Deploys Jets to Middle East Amid Rising Tensions
Exiled Iranian Prince Reza Pahlavi Urges Overthrow of Khamenei Regime
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Iran Launches Extensive Missile Attack on Israel Following Israeli Strikes on Nuclear Sites
Israel Issues Ultimatum to Iran Over Potential Retaliation and Nuclear Facilities
Black Box Recovered from Air India Crash Site
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
Trump to Iran: Make a Deal — Sign or Die
Operation "Like a Lion": Israel Strikes Iran in Unprecedented Offensive
Israel Launches 'Operation Rising Lion' Targeting Iranian Nuclear and Military Sites
Israeli Forces Intercept Gaza-Bound Aid Vessel Carrying Greta Thunberg
IMF Warns of Severe Global Trade War Impacts on Emerging Markets
Syria to Reconnect to Global Economy After 14 Years of Isolation
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Global News Roundup: From Ukraine's strategic military strikes and Russia's demands and Tensions Escalate in Ukraine, to serious legal issues faced by Britons in Bali and Trump's media criticism, the latest developments highlight a turbulent landscape
U.S. Reduces Military Presence in Syria
Trump Demands Iran End All Uranium Enrichment in Nuclear Talks
Iran Warns Europe Against Politicizing UN Nuclear Report
×