Jeremy Corbyn’s former spokesperson joins Green Party, as Labour reveals 65 percent of disciplinary cases relate to antisemitism
Jeremy Corbyn’s former spokesperson has joined the Green Party.
The move comes as speculation mounts that Mr Corbyn will be barred from running as a candidate for the Labour Party in the next general election.
Matt Zarb-Cousin said that a “factional war” against the left of the Party had been “executed from the top down.”
Mr Zarb-Cousin, who served as a spokesperson for Mr Corbyn when the latter was leader of the Labour Party, complained that left-wingers were “no longer welcome in the Labour Party” and, blaming Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer for the change in climate, urged others to defect.
Mr Zarb-Cousin, who also helped to run Rebecca Long-Bailey’s abortive Labour leadership bid, also said that Labour’s apparent decision not to restore the whip to Mr Corbyn “sealed and confirmed” his decision to quit the Party.
Explaining his decision to move to the Greens, Mr Zarb-Cousin said: “Obviously I was attracted to the Greens’ policies on the climate crisis and proportional representation, which are the two most important things going forward for the country. Democratic socialists are no longer welcome in the Labour Party and there is a strong case for them to join the Greens and push for proportional representation,which will give our views and politics more influence.”
Mr Zarb-Cousin said of others moving to the Greens: “I’m hearing that left-wing members have left and other people are thinking about it. I think there will be more.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has repeatedly warned that the Green Party risks becoming a haven for far-left exiles from the Labour Party.
Meanwhile, the pro-Corbyn pressure group Momentum is reportedly warning its supporters that its future is in financial peril due to the flight of far-left members from the Labour Party.
These developments come as the Labour Party revealed that 65 percent of disciplinary cases heard by Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee (NEC) since May have related to antisemitism.
Labour has allegedly claimed that the backlog of cases from the period of Mr Corbyn’s leadership has been cleared. However, the Party has yet to address the complaints submitted by Campaign Against Antisemitism against over a dozen sitting MPs.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has lodged a complaint against Jeremy Corbyn, holding him responsible for conduct that is prejudicial or grossly detrimental to the Labour Party, as the Leader during the period of the EHRC’s shameful findings. Given the serious detriment that this conduct has caused, we are seeking Mr Corbyn’s immediate resuspension and, if the complaint is upheld, we will be requesting his expulsion. On the day of the publication of the EHRC’s report, we also submitted a major complaint against Mr Corbyn and other sitting MPs. These complaints are yet to be acknowledged by the Party, and they must be investigated by an independent disciplinary process that the EHRC has demanded and Sir Keir has promised but has yet to introduce.
The Labour Party was found by the EHRC to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.
Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.
