The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn from the British Labour Party (II)

Corbyn’s election captured the people’s imagination and movement for change. However, there was no chance that the cartel parties would tolerate any space being used for the independent program of the working class | PAULINE EASTON

July 2014. Jeremy Corbyn participates in action against Israeli bombardment of Gaza. (Ron F)

The Need to Settle Scores with Britain’s Decrepit Anachronistic Institutions

On October 29, the leader of the British Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, was suspended from the party because he refused to retract his reaction to a recent report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). This report alleged that the Labour Party under Corbyn’s leadership had breached the 2010 Equality Act through a combination of “inappropriate involvement” and harassment in complaints procedures relating to “anti-Semitism,” and an “inadequate training provision for those handling the complaints.” Corbyn was suspended, it was said, for refusing to accept all the EHRC report’s conclusions and for claiming that “the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents.” In response, Corbyn declared his intention to “strongly contest the political intervention to suspend” him.

The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn from the British Labour Party (I)

Jeremy Corbyn was suspended from the Labour Party on October 29 by General Secretary David Evans. The reason given was that of failing to retract his reaction to a recent report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC). This report alleged that the Labour Party under Corbyn’s leadership had breached the 2010 Equality Act through a combination of “inappropriate involvement” and harassment in complaints procedures relating to antisemitism, and inadequate training provision for those handling the complaints. Corbyn was suspended, it was said, for refusing to accept all the EHRC report’s conclusions and for claiming that “the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents.” In response, Corbyn declared his intention to “strongly contest the political intervention to suspend” him.