Sir Keir Stamer’s bold decision to suspend Jeremy Corbyn from the Labour Party appears to have paid off after new polling shows almost six in ten people think it was the right move.
The new Labour leader suspending his predecessor yesterday pending investigation in light of comments made in the aftermath of the bombshell report by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission and his failure to retract them subsequently.
Corbyn lashed out at “opponents inside and outside the Party” and the media, who he claims “dramatically overstated” the issue. But Starmer called it a “day of shame for Labour”.
“If, after all the pain, all the grief and all the evidence in this report there are still those who think that there is no problem with antisemitism in the Labour Party – that it’s all exaggerated, or a factional attack – then frankly you are part of the problem too, and you should be nowhere near the Labour Party,” he said, rhetoric which appears to have resonated with the electorate.
Incredible comment from Starmer just now on R4. He'd told Corbyn about his speech the evening before he made it. So Corbyn issued his statement knowing it would directly contradict Starmer's.
— Ian Dunt (@IanDunt) October 30, 2020
Positive for Starmer
According to a YouGov poll 58 per cent think it was the right devision to suspend Corbyn from the party compared to just 13 per cent who think it was the wrong decision.
However 26 per cent of Labour voters were against the call, pointing to signs of a split within the party.
1. This obviously looks very positive for Starmer.
— George Eaton (@georgeeaton) October 29, 2020
2. But 26% of Labour voters is far from nothing. Where (if anywhere) do they go now? https://t.co/VusrH8nDma
Split
Last night several activists relinquished their memberships and Momentum – a campaigning arm of the party during the Islington North MP’s five-year reign – announced there will be a virtual Stand with Corbyn rally on Friday evening.
Encouraging social media followers to join the rally, Momentum posted: “The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn by the Labour Party leadership is a naked attack on the left that undermines the fight against anti-Semitism and makes a mockery of Keir Starmer’s pledge to unite the party.”
The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn by the Labour Party leadership is a naked attack on the left that undermines the fight against anti-semitism and makes a mockery of Keir Starmer’s pledge to unite the Party.
— Momentum ? (@PeoplesMomentum) October 29, 2020
Join the rally to Stand with Corbyn: https://t.co/1c32pilkxb pic.twitter.com/tniFcG4wEf
Unite union boss Len McCluskey also called it an “act of grave injustice” which could “create chaos within the party” and put any chance of election success in jeopardy.
“A split party will be doomed to defeat,” he said.
While ex-shadow chancellor John McDonnell described the suspension as “profoundly wrong”.
Related: Daily Mails says farewell to Jeremy Corbyn’s “legacy of hate”