The Labour Party's new zero-tolerance approach

Sometimes leaders have to define themselves by their brutality. That is exactly what Keir Starmer has done today, with his ruthless suspension of Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour Party in the wake of the new report into his handling of the anti-semitism scandal when leader.

Starmer has proved once and for all that Labour is under “A New Leadership”—the slogan on his recent conference speech podium. And it came over a deeply symbolic issue on what he himself described as “a day of shame” for the party. Starmer has demonstrated his commitment to the future by making a definitive and merciless break with the moral disgrace of the past.

The rise of anti-semitism under Corbyn—that saw Jewish MPs effectively bullied out of the party—was one of the most appalling spectacles in politics in recent years. I will never forget interviewing Luciana Berger for the Times in March last year, shortly after she left Labour to join The Independent Group following fierce attempts to deselect her as an MP. It was the most shocking interview I have ever conducted—heavily pregnant, she described a toxic political culture in the Labour Party including appalling anti-semitic abuse and death threats, much of it from Corbyn’s supporters on the hard left. She had even had what she described as “a threat to my unborn child” from a former Labour Party member. There had, though, been no true support from the leadership and she had not met Corbyn formally for over a year.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission found that Labour had overseen “unlawful” harassment and discrimination during Corbyn’s years in charge. Corbyn weakly voiced “regret” that it took too long to get a grip on the problem, adding: “Jewish members of our party and the wider community were right to expect us to deal with it.” Yet just as when he was leader, he couldn’t help playing the victim, claiming the issue had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.” Even now he is too blinded by his own self-righteousness to truly accept blame for mistakes that were made. His refusal to retract was the final straw.

The independent investigation found evidence of 23 instances of “inappropriate involvement” in the complaints process by Corbyn’s office, that included staff influencing decisions on suspensions and whether to investigate claims. As if living in a parallel universe, Corbyn claimed his team had “acted to speed up, not hinder the process” and promised to “strongly contest” his suspension.

Having made rebuilding relations with the Jewish community a priority for his leadership, Starmer had little choice but to act. In his response to the EHRC report he said that if people think accusations of anti-semitism in the Labour Party are “all exaggerated or a factional attack,” they "are part of the problem" and "should be nowhere near the Labour Party.” That is precisely the camp Corbyn has emboldened.

This is not just about anti-semitism—important though that is in its own right. It is about proving Starmer is genuinely moving on from the “nasty party” created by his predecessor. The intolerance, sectarianism and extremism were deeply off-putting to voters and led to Labour’s worst general election defeat in almost a century. There is a clear contrast with Boris Johnson’s decision to expel 21 moderate Conservative MPs from his party last year: that pushed the Tories further away from the centre, whereas Starmer is propelling Labour back to the middle ground, just as Tony Blair did over Clause IV and Neil Kinnock did with the Militant tendency.

There has always been an inconsistency at the heart of Starmer’s leadership—his pitch was as a unifier, who could bring left and right together, and during his leadership campaign he promised to keep much of the Corbyn policy programme. Yet he has also repeatedly said that he wants to turn Labour back into a party of power, which it clearly was not. Slowly but surely, he has turned his back on the left—in his choice of shadow cabinet, as well as the policy positions he has taken.

The decision to suspend Corbyn is the most dramatic break yet. One Labour source says Starmer has taken a step forward but will be “looking over his shoulder” for the rest of his leadership. “Keir stood on a ticket of uniting the party and whether what he’s done is right or wrong—I personally think it is right—there will be a lot of people on the left who now have their story of betrayal. And if the left knows anything it knows how to bide its time and wait for its revenge.”