‘I have no intention of stopping now’: Jeremy Corbyn paves way to standing AGAINST Labour at next general election as ex-leader vows not to be ‘intimidated into silence’ after he’s blocked from being official party candidate
- Labour’s NEC voted to block Jeremy Corbyn from standing for the party
- He’s now expected to stand as independent against Labour at general election
Jeremy Corbyn tonight appeared to confirm he will run against Labour at the next general election after being blocked from standing as an official party candidate.
The ex-Labour leader, who has been an independent MP since losing the party’s whip in October 2020, defiantly insisted he would ‘not be intimidated into silence’.
The 73-year-old has represented his Islington North constituency for almost 40 years and signalled he intends to stand again at the next election, whether as a Labour candidate or not.
‘I have spent my life fighting for a fairer society on behalf of the people of Islington North and I have no intention of stopping now,’ he said in a statement this evening.
It came after Labour’s ruling body this afternoon passed a motion – which branded their ex-leader an electoral liability – by 22 votes to 12 in order to bar Mr Corbyn from being a party candidate at the next election.
Jeremy Corbyn appeared to confirm he will run against Labour at the next general election after being blocked from standing as an official party candidate
The ex-Labour leader, who has been an independent MP since losing the party’s whip in October 2020, defiantly insisted he would ‘not be intimidated into silence’
The result of the National Executive Committee ballot has revived bitter tensions between Sir Keir Starmer, Mr Corbyn’s successor as party leader, and Labour’s left wing.
Mr Corbyn himself accused Sir Keir of a ‘disgraceful’ move to block him from being a Labour candidate and claimed it ‘shows contempt’ from those who backed the party at the 2017 and 2019 elections, when he was leader.
He also blasted Sir Keir for launching ‘an assault on the rights of his own Labour members, breaking his pledge to build a united and democratoic party’.
Mr Corbyn released his statement this evening after earlier refusing to answer questions as he returned home.
He has been staunchly backed by local Labour members in Islington North who have vowed to ‘reject’ the NEC’s meddling in the selection of their general election candidate.
Allies of Mr Corbyn also today compared Sir Keir to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin over his treatment of his predecessor.
The eruption of tensions within Labour came a day after Mr Corbyn was filmed snapping at a young female reporter outside Parliament.
He berated a Sky News correspondent last night as she attempted to quiz him over Sir Keir’s efforts to officially end his long spell as a Labour MP.
When the Sky News journalist tried to ask Mr Corbyn about whether he intended to stand as an independent candidate against Labour at the next election, he replied: ‘I’m going to a demonstration against the Immigration Bill and I suggest you report that too.’
When she replied that the protest was also being covered by the TV news channel, he added: ‘Well good, you can come and listen to what I have to say. I look forward to seeing you over there, thank you very much.’
As she pressed him on whether he would stand as an independent candidate, Mr Corbyn turned towards her and glared, repeating: ‘Thank you very much.’
Mr Corbyn accused Sir Keir Starmer of a ‘disgraceful’ move to block him from being a Labour candidate
Mr Corbyn’s allies continued to push for him to be allowed to stand for Labour, with MP Beth Winter making the demand that he is cleared ‘in the interests of general election success’
Local Labour activists in Mr Corbyn’s Islington North constituency vowed to ‘reject’ the meddling by Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC)
Mr Corbyn has sat as an independent MP since losing the Labour whip in 2020 after he said allegations of anti-Semitism during his time in charge had been exaggerated by political opponents.
His allies are continuing to push for him to be allowed to run for Labour at the next election.
Beth Winter, Labour MP for Cynon Valley, made the extraordinary demand that he be cleared ‘in the interests of general election success’.
Under Mr Corbyn’s leadership at the 2019 election, Labour suffered its worst result since the 1930s, handing Boris Johnson an 80-seat majority.
Speaking to Times Radio this afternoon, former Momentum leader Jon Lansman said: ‘I think we should be campaigning still for radical policy.
‘We have to demand. We’re a democratic party. This is not an authoritarian party. Keir Starmer unfortunately is behaving as if he was some kind of Putin of the Labour Party. That is not the way we do politics.’
However, he said he would not campaign for Mr Corbyn as an independent candidate, saying: ‘I want to see Keir Starmer elected as prime minister of this country, and we need a Labour government.’
After the NEC vote this afternoon, the Islington North Labour Party pointed to past comments by Sir Keir in which the Labour leader had insisted that ‘local party members should select their candidates for every election’.
‘The officers of Islington North Constituency Labour Party strongly support this statement from Keir Starmer in February 2020,’ they said.
‘We believe in the democratic right of all constituency parties to choose their prospective parliamentary candidates.
‘Therefore, we reject the NEC’s undue interference in Islington North, which undermines our goal of defeating the Conservatives and working with our communities for social justice.’
Momentum condemned an ‘anti-democratic stitch-up’ by Sir Keir.
A spokesperson for the group said: ‘Keir Starmer was elected on a pledge to end NEC stitch-ups and let local members decide their candidates.
‘Yet at a stroke his paper bans a former party leader from seeking the Labour nomination in a constituency he has won ten times and represented for over forty years.
‘This unjust decision drives a massive wedge within the Labour Party and risks alienating the millions of people, especially young people, who were energised by Jeremy’s socialist politics.’
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