“Jeremy should immediately have the whip restored. At a time of national crisis, division in the Labour party serves nobody but the Tory Government.”
Richard Burgon MP.
By the Labour Outlook Volunteers Team
Yesterday’s decision to reinstate Jeremy Corbyn was greeted as a unifying move by figures across the party as a decision that would help us defeat this disastrous Tory Government.
As the former Labour leader himself said, “I am pleased to have been reinstated in the Labour Party… Our movement must now come together to oppose and defeat this deeply damaging Conservative government.”
His sentiments were echoed by fellow parliamentarians, including the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG), who tweeted “Jeremy’s reinstatement is right and just. As we said in our statement calling for Jeremy’s readmission, the priority now must be for the party to unite and step up the fight for the socialist policies needed to undo the harm the Tories are inflicting on our country.”
Mary Foy MP commented that we must now “unite the party and work to defeat this Tory Government,”. Tahir Ali MP added that “Now we can get on with the job of tackling antisemitism and racism in our party, and holding the Tories to account for their repeated failures and complete lack of regard for working people.”
They were joined by trade union leaders, including Matt Wrack, FBU General Secretary, and Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey, who said “Jeremy Corbyn’s readmission is the correct, fair and unifying decision. As a party we now move forward to implement the EHRC’s recommendations and redouble our efforts to inspire voters about Keir’s 10 pledges and the transformation of our nations into fairer places for our people. Only Labour, united and strong, can bring this about.”
However, today’s announcement that Corbyn will not have the Labour whip restored to him risks jeopardising yesterday’s step forward. Richard Burgon, Secretary of the SCG, said “Jeremy Corbyn has rightly been reinstated to the Labour Party. That decision must be respected & implemented across the Labour Party. Jeremy should immediately have the whip restored. At a time of national crisis, division in the Labour party serves nobody but the Tory Government.”
John McDonnell also responded, saying “This is just plain wrong & will cause more division & disunity in party. Jeremy’s gone through the formal procedures & decision has been made properly. I appeal to everyone that surely it’s time to move on & start working together to implement the EHRC.”
There is also very serious questions raised by this decision in terms of due process. As Diane Abbott tweeted today “Labour MPs lose the whip if suspended from the party automatically. De facto you can’t be a Labour MP if you’re not actually in the Labour Party. But removing the whip from @jeremycorbyn now raises serious questions of due process.”
It is vital that yesterday’s unifying decision is implemented at every level of the party – the whip must be restored to Jeremy Corbyn. As Zarah Sultana MP said, “Jeremy Corbyn is a Labour Member of Parliament. He absolutely should have the whip immediately restored. This division only helps the Conservatives. It’s time to unite to take on this rotten government.”
- Add your name to the petition demanding the whip is restored at http://chng.it/LXjSvKmykd
