Starmer under pressure to take action against Corbyn after anti-Semitism report
Sir Keir Starmer faces pressure to take action against Jeremy Corbyn after the former Labour leader refused to fully accept the conclusions of a damning report on anti-Semitism within the party.
Mr Corbyn said he did “not accept all” of the findings of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which found the party broke the law on harassment and discrimination under his watch.
And he maintained on Thursday that the extent of the problem had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by opponents and the media.
“Under my leadership, we will have zero tolerance of anti-Semitism.”
My response to the EHRC's report into the Labour Party.https://t.co/8WhOWbsqOB
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) October 29, 2020
Sir Keir’s spokesman did not immediately respond when asked what action would be taken, with Mr Corbyn’s statement being at odds with the new leader’s warning.
During the press conference, Sir Keir was pressed over whether Mr Corbyn, who he served under as shadow Brexit secretary, was fit to have been leader.
“The report doesn’t make individual findings about Jeremy Corbyn,” Sir Keir said.
But he acknowledged it made “strong findings about leadership”, adding: “We all have to accept the findings in this report, we all have to accept responsibility.”
EHRC lead investigator Alasdair Henderson told reporters that the extent of the problem was greater than Mr Corbyn alone but said that he “does have a responsibility ultimately for those failings”.
Campaign Against Anti-Semitism chief executive Gideon Falter criticised Mr Corbyn’s remarks as a “very sad response”.
Conservative Party co-chair Amanda Milling called on Sir Keir to act.
“It’s time for him to hold those responsible for this sorry period in Labour’s history to account – if Starmer is serious about this, his first act should be to expel Jeremy Corbyn,” she said.