The Labour leader rejected claims Diane Abbott had been barred from standing for the party, but the episode highlights long-running party tensions.
Veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott has hit the headlines after she appeared to believe she had been barred from standing in the General Election.
Sir Keir was first elected as MP at the 2015 general election which saw the Conservatives under David Cameron win power with a 10-seat majority. Following the Brexit referendum in June 2016, Sir Keir was among the 18 shadow ministers and 21 members of the Labour frontbench who resigned as Mr Corbyn faced criticism for what was seen as a lack of enthusiasm for campaigning to remain in the European Union.
Sir Keir is likely to have seen his role as an advocate for moderation during this time, but also as an enthusiastic advocate for a softer Brexit amid turmoil on the Tory benches. These included the nationalisation of utilities, free movement within the European Union and ending student tuition fees, with the Labour leader arguing these policies had to be “adapted” due to the impact of the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and Liz Truss’s mini-budget in 2022.Throughout his time as leader of the Opposition, Sir Keir has faced accusations of purging Labour’s left.
Ministers defended the decision, highlighting Mr Driscoll’s decision to share a panel with filmmaker Ken Loach, who was expelled from the party due to his membership of Labour Against the Witch hunt – an organisation campaigning against what it perceived to be politically motivated allegations of antisemitism.A leaked internal report in April 2020 had laid bare tensions between Labour factions.
The contrast in the findings of the two reports appeared to shape the dynamic of internal tensions and sensitivities that persist to this day. In November 2020, a panel comprising members of the Labour’s NEC agreed to readmit Mr Corbyn to the Labour Party, but Sir Keir denied him a place in the parliamentary party by refusing to restore the whip.Mr Corbyn was later reportedly encouraged to apologise for his comments by Labour’s then-chief whip Nick Brown, but did not accept the offer.In March 2023, Labour’s NEC decided not to endorse Mr Corbyn in the next election, meaning his was prevented from standing as a Labour candidate.
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