{"id":151898,"date":"2020-11-19T13:44:53","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T13:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/?p=151898"},"modified":"2020-11-19T13:44:53","modified_gmt":"2020-11-19T13:44:53","slug":"politicised-labour-process-let-corbyn-back-in-says-anneliese-dodds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bnreport.com\/en\/politicised-labour-process-let-corbyn-back-in-says-anneliese-dodds\/","title":{"rendered":"Politicised Labour process let Corbyn back in, says Anneliese Dodds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The shadow chancellor,\u00a0Anneliese Dodds<\/a>, has blamed a \u201cpoliticised\u201d disciplinary process for Jeremy Corbyn\u2019s readmittance to the Labour party, as a former MP quit the party and its internal rift deepened.<\/p>\n

Dodds\u2019 comments came after a backlash against Keir Starmer\u2019s decision\u00a0not to restore the Labour whip<\/a>\u00a0to Corbyn following his suspension. A panel from Labour\u2019s governing body had let him back into the party with a written warning.<\/p>\n

The former\u00a0Labour<\/a>\u00a0MP Thelma Walker, a former parliamentary aide to Dodds\u2019 predecessor as shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, said on Wednesday she had resigned from the party in protest at Starmer\u2019s treatment of Corbyn.<\/p>\n

Walker, who lost her seat in the 2019 election, tweeted: \u201cTonight I attended my branch meeting and resigned my membership of the Labour party. It was a privilege to serve as Labour MP for Colne Valley, to be PPS to John McDonnell and to work with\u00a0Jeremy Corbyn<\/a>\u00a0as Labour leader. I will continue to work for the many not the few.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corbyn was suspended for comments he made in the wake of a report by the equalities watchdog about antisemitism in the party. He said: \u201cThe scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was readmitted to the party 19 days later after a panel from Labour\u2019s national executive committee (NEC) agreed to give the former leader a formal warning and restore his party membership, but Starmer said he would not permit Corbyn to sit as a Labour MP. Starmer said Corbyn\u2019s position would be kept under review.<\/p>\n

Dodds said the Equality and Human Rights Commission had found that the disciplinary process was not fit for purpose and should be replaced with an independent system, which the party has said it will deliver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of huge regret and shame to my party that it found we were wanting. We have to sort out that system. It cannot remain as a politicised system.\u00a0Keir Starmer<\/a>\u00a0has committed to altering it and \u2026 we are now under a statutory duty,\u201d she told BBC Radio 4\u2019s Today programme.<\/p>\n

Dodds said the decision to readmit Corbyn under the previous system \u201cindicates that that process is not the right one, it\u2019s not the one that we need \u2026 We have six weeks to respond to that report and a large element of the response is going to be around setting up a new process, which is completely independent, which everyone can have confidence in including the Jewish community\u201d.<\/p>\n

MP Margaret Hodge, the parliamentary chair of the Jewish Labour Movement, who is understood to have told Starmer she would resign from the party on Tuesday night after the initial decision to readmit Corbyn, said refusing to return the whip to Corbyn \u201cdid a lot to restore his credibility\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe terrible truth is that he [Corbyn] constantly makes himself the centre of the argument,\u201d she told Today.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we need to root out is antisemitism, and for as long as he is one of the individuals who refuses to accept the extent of antisemitism in the party, who constantly says that people like me have been politically motivated and are attacking him personally instead of attacking the antisemitism that he expressly tolerates, and has allowed to spread right through the party \u2013 that\u2019s really the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

A bitter battle is also raging behind closed doors, with Starmer accused of \u201cbad faith\u201d by the Unite leader, Len McCluskey, who allies say was involved in brokering a deal he and others believed would allow the former leader to sit as a Labour MP again.<\/p>\n