Sir Keir Starmer shows pragmatism over principle in revealing interview with Channel 4 News

In a Channel 4 News interview broadcast on 15th February, Sir Keir Starmer declined to express remorse for serving alongside and backing the antisemite Jeremy Corbyn, and said that whether Mr Corbyn returned to the Parliamentary Labour Party, from which he is currently suspended, is “a matter for him and the Chief Whip”.

In comments that are unlikely to satisfy those who question how Sir Keir could have served in Mr Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet through the years of the Labour Party’s antisemitism crisis, only to begin to speak out against it when he ran for leader of the Party, Sir Keir nevertheless did go on speculate that Mr Corbyn is unlikely to be a Labour candidate in the next General Election.

Asked by presenter Cathy Newman, “Do you regret serving alongside Jeremy Corbyn?” Sir Keir responded: “No. I think it’s very important for people to make the arguments wherever they can, and that gave me the ability to make the argument about NATO in the Shadow Cabinet.”

Ms Newman pressed the Labour leader, asking: “Would you and are you looking to deselect Jeremy Corbyn now so that he can’t stand again as a Labour MP?”

Sir Keir replied: “Well Jeremy Corbyn’s position at the moment is that he’s not got the Labour whip for reasons that everybody understands in relation to his response to the antisemitism report. That remains the situation, and will remain the situation until something’s done about it.”

Ms Newman further asked: “But are you going to show leadership on this and deselect him?” Sir Keir responded, “Well look, the whip has been removed from Jeremy and that’s the same position it’s been for…” but was interrupted by the presented, who observed: “But that’s different from deselecting him for the next election.” Sir Keir reiterated: “Well, he’s not a Labour MPa t the moment.”

Finally, Ms Newman asked: “Can you see any scenario that he will stand under the Labour banner at the next election?”

He replied: Well, at the moment he’s not a Labour MP and so I don’t see how that’s possible, but you know that’s a matter for him and the Chief Whip, but, you know, we’ve been in this position for over a year now.”

Meanwhile, Labour has reportedly dropped an investigation into Diana Neslen, a member of the antisemitism-denial group and sham Jewish representative organisation, Jewish Voice for Labour. Ms Neslen apparently threatened to sue the Labour Party for discrimination based on her anti-Zionist beliefs and her position, expressed in a 2017 tweet that was reportedly the subject of Labour’s investigation, that the Jewish state is a “racist endeavour”. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination (e.g. by claiming that the existence of a State of Israel is a racist endeavour)” is an example of antisemitism.

This matter was also the cause of one of the BBC’s numerous recent controversies in relation to antisemitism, as the broadcaster invited Ms Neslen to a panel to discuss whether anti-Zionism should be a protected characteristic under the Equality Act, only to invite someone else instead, record the segment but then not air it after pressure from an outraged Jewish community.

In the past, Ms Neslen has reportedly denied that the Jewish former Labour MPs Luciana Berger and Dame Louise Ellman were “hounded out” of the party under Mr Corbyn, and has apparently posted: “Zionism is not Judaism. It is blasphemy.”

Also in the past week, Mr Corbyn withdrew from what news reports described as a “Hamas-linked rally”.

Joe Gasman, Head of Political and Government Investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “This interview is revealing. Once again, Sir Keir Starmer has not apologised for standing by Jeremy Corbyn through the years of Labour’s antisemitism crisis, and he has declined to show leadership by actively deselecting the former leader, relying instead on Mr Corbyn being automatically replaced by virtue of his ongoing suspension from the Parliamentary Labour Party. Even with regard to the future of that suspension, Sir Keir avoided taking responsibility, asserting that it was not a matter for him but for the Chief Whip. The only bright spot was that he could not foresee Mr Corbyn having the endorsement of the Labour Party in the next General Election.

“This is illustrative of how Sir Keir is addressing antisemitism in the Labour Party: passively letting things happen in the hope that the antisemites will go away without showing real leadership by calling out racism against Jews for what it is and actively expelling it. This is about pushing the problem away rather than seeking justice; it is pragmatism over principle.”

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 Equality and Human Rights Commission (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.