The Labour Party

Under pressure from Keir Starmer and wealthy donors, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has stepped down. The right wing wants to expunge all remnants of Corbynism from the party. But this will only hasten the right's decline.

Jeremy Corbyn is back in the Labour Party, after apologising for earlier remarks. But no amount of appeasement will satisfy the right wing. Starmer’s spiteful decision not to restore the whip shows that this war is far from over.

The suspension of Jeremy Corbyn is a declaration of war. The Labour left is faced with a stark choice: either to capitulate, or to fight to the finish. There is no middle road. Appeasement will not work. Now more than ever, we need bold leadership.

The Labour right wing in Britain have shown that they are ruthless in their aim of purging the left. The leaders of the Corbyn movement must show equal determination and resolve. We need a fighting leadership, armed with a bold socialist programme.

By suspending Jeremy Corbyn, the right wing has thrown down the gauntlet. A full on witch-hunt is underway – to purge the left and make Labour a reliable party for big business. The left must mobilise and boldly fight back.

In a special broadcast of Marxist Voice, Rob Sewell (editor of the British Marxist website, socialist.net) discusses today's incendiary events surrounding the release of the EHRC report into Labour and anti-semitism, and the suspension of left-wing ex-leader, Jeremy Corbyn.

This weekend marks the fifth anniversary since Jeremy Corbyn was first elected Labour leader. This marked an enormous turning point for the Left in Britain. Now, at another crossroads, we must learn from the experience of the Corbyn era.

Last week, Keir Starmer abruptly sacked former leadership rival Rebecca Long-Bailey from her position as Shadow Education Secretary, on the ludicrous charge of “sharing antisemitic conspiracy theories”. This incendiary move rightly provoked outrage amongst grassroots members.

The media, bourgeois and reformist leaders have all been whipping up a “wartime” spirit of national unity against the threat of COVID-19. Recently elected leader of the British Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has even made overtures about joining a government of national unity with the Conservatives. But the coronavirus pandemic is exposing the class lines in society more than ever. National unity is a reactionary fiction. What is needed is workers’ unity in the face of this crisis, and against the rotten system responsible.