[ad_1]
Good Morning. Yesterday Jeremy Corbyn issued a statement in which he effectively retracted a claim he made about the degree of anti-Semitism in the Labor Party that was being “exaggerated”, and this led to his suspension of the party being lifted. Perhaps some people at Labor headquarters or in leadership thought this would heal the gap caused when Corbyn’s initial “overblown” comment led to his suspension the day the Equality and Human Rights Commission released its report last month.
But it has not worked that way. As Lisa O’Carroll reports, the decision has sparked a backlash from Jewish groups and Labor MPs who oppose Corbyn. Figures like Margaret Hodge say Corbyn shouldn’t be a Labor MP. And Sir Keir Starmer now faces another decision that, depending on what he does, will enrage one faction in the match or another.
On the Today show this morning James Schneider, Corbyn’s director of strategic communications when Corbyn was leader, claimed that lifting his suspension meant that Corbyn was automatically restored as a member of the parliamentary Labor Party. Schneider said:
It’s automatic Jeremy Corbyn is a Labor MP with the restored whip. It would be a decision of the leaders to withdraw the whip now if that is what they want to do …
[Corbyn] The whip was automatically withdrawn because he was suspended as a party member. Now it resets automatically because the party membership has returned. This process is complete. Membership is reinstated. He is a Labor member and a Labor MP.
But Labor officials say this morning that Schneider was wrong and that reinstatement to the party does not automatically mean reinstatement to PLP. Starmer is expected to want to decide this within the next three hours, before PMQ.
Here is the agenda for the day.
11am: Dr Susan Hopkins, England’s Deputy Director of Public Health and NHS Medical Adviser for Testing and Tracing, conducts a coronavirus data briefing at Issue 10.
12:00 h: Boris Johnson confronts Sir Keir Starmer at PMQ, and Johnson becomes the first prime minister to virtually participate in this exchange, because he still isolates himself.
12:15 pm: Dr Andrew Goodall, Executive Director of NHS Wales, conducts a Welsh Government Coronavirus briefing.
12:15 pm: Nicola Sturgeon is expected to hold a briefing on the coronavirus.
15:00 h: Robert Buckland, the attorney general, gives human rights testimony to the joint human rights committee.
Politics Live is now doubling down as the UK’s coronavirus live blog and given the way the Covid crisis overshadows everything, this will continue for the foreseeable future. But we’ll also cover non-Covid political stories, like the Starmer / Corbyn story, and when they seem more important or more interesting, they will take precedence.
Here’s our global coronavirus live blog.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, put “Andrew” somewhere and you’re more likely to find it. I try to answer questions and if they are of general interest I will post the question and answer above the line (ATL), although I cannot promise to do this for everyone.
If you want to get my attention quickly, it’s probably best to use Twitter. I’m in @ AndrewGorrión.
[ad_2]
