No, Jeremy Corbyn: Ostracised former Labour leader FAILS in bid to return as a party MP as members throw out attempt by hard Left icon’s supporters to alter rules to allow him to stand at the next election

• The former opposition leader has sat as an independent MP since 2020 
• His supporters tried to change party rules to let them select him for Labour
• But conference rejected change 59-41 to effectively end his Labour career 

Jeremy Corbyn’s career as a Labour MP appears to be over after party members blocked an attempt to let him represent it at the next election. 

The former opposition leader has sat as an independent MP since 2020 after being stripped of the party whip over his attitude to a probe into anti-Semitism during his time in charge.

At the annual party conference in Liverpool today his supporters tried to change selection rules to allow local constituency parties (CLPs) to have the final say on candidates at election, removing the power of the central party to veto them.

It would have allowed the CLP in his Islington North constituency to select him, forcing the Parliamentary party to restore the whip if he won in the ultra-safe seat.

But the proposal was rejected by 41 per cent to 59 per cent. It means he is almost certain to stand as an independent against the party at the next election, expected in 2024.

Mr Corbyn remains a party member and has appeared at a number of leftwing fringe events in the margins of the party conference. Last night he was the guest of honour at a Labour party conference fringe event calling for appeasement of Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

The former opposition leader has sat as an independent MP since 2020 after being stripped of the party whip over his attitude to a probe into anti-Semitism during his time in charge.

Before the vote, Peter Talbot, of Islington North CLP, said: ‘We need a range of Labour candidates. We need to demonstrate that the Labour Party truly is a broad church. And that’s particularly important in relation to the thousands of young people that Jeremy brought into supporting Labour.’

He added: ‘If we don’t change the rules and Jeremy can’t stand for Labour at the next election, well that would just be a disaster for us frankly, it would not end well.

‘It would be a gift to the Greens, to the Lib Dems and the Tories.’

Mr Corbyn remains a party member and has appeared at a number of leftwing fringe events in the margins of the party conference. 

Last night he was the guest of honour at a Labour party conference fringe event calling for appeasement of Vladimir Putin in Ukraine. 

The former opposition leader attended a Stop the War Coalition event in Liverpool demanding successor Keir Starmer ‘push for peace’ in Ukraine in order to reduce energy bills in Britain.

The organisation has attacked Western military support for Kyiv and the event will call for an end to Putin’s brutal invasion through ‘a negotiated peace’.

Last night Mr Corbyn attacked plans to increase UK defence spending to 3 per cent, and attacked the United Nations, saying; ‘Let’s be absolutely clear and I’ll say this slowly, I totally condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

‘There’s no one here that is an apologist for that invasion. But it does mean we also have to look at how we end that and bring them about the peace process.

‘The opportunities for negotiation on many occasions were completely missed and I think the United Nations has a lot to answer for.’

Source: Read Full Article