Labour Party

Jeremy Corbyn will take the first step towards a High Court battle against Labour next week over his suspension from the parliamentary party. The former opposition leader will have a pre-action disclosure application heard in London on Monday afternoon, court officials told the PA news agency. Lawyers for Corbyn are expected to ask a judge […]

Labour could dump Sir Keir Starmer in favour of a leader keen to rejoin the EU, a former frontbencher has warned. Former Labour whip Rosie Duffield said a majority of party MPs were “desperate to rejoin the EU at heart”. Speaking on HuffPost UK’s Commons People podcast, Duffield – who was forced to resign in May for […]

Left wing advocates of Brexit labour under a number of misapprehensions, says FRANCIS BECKETT – such as a mistaken belief it will make their aims more achievable and that all Remainers are middle class. Paul Embery is one of the brightest stars of Lexit – the faction that says that all proper socialists are Brexiters. […]

A Labour frontbencher has resigned over her Brexit deal position after she defied Keir Starmer’s call for MPs to vote in support. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Helen Hayes left the opposition frontbench after abstaining on the bill. She tweeted: “I’m grateful to all who’ve contacted me on the EU Future Relationship Bill. I can’t vote […]

Labour leader Keir Starmer has ruled out fighting the next general election on issues surrounding Europe, claiming he wants to focus on “Bitain in the 2030s” rather than the views of 2016. In an interview with the Guardian, Starmer dismissed talk of campaigning on Europe in 2024 despite the Brexit deal giving a break clause […]

Labour’s Nadia Whittome has indicated that she will abstain in the vote on Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal in the Commons. The Nottingham East MP said she would not vote for a deal which “fails to protect jobs, workers’ rights, migrants, the environment, our NHS, and my generation’s future”. On Twitter, Whittome wrote: “While I understand […]

A Labour MP has explained why she will defy the party leadership over Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Appearing on Channel 4 News, Rupa Huq said she “doesn’t want to be a part” of the consequences of voting to support the deal. “It’s a relief that a deal has been done because obviously if you’re jumping […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing a high-profile revolt over his decision to back Boris Johnson’s EU trade deal in this week’s Commons vote. Former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and ex-cabinet minister Ben Bradshaw are among the signatories to a letter calling on opposition parties not to support the “rotten” agreement, The Guardian reported. […]

With a vote expected next week on a Brexit deal, we want to know what you think Labour should do. Labour is being encouraged to vote against such a deal, despite its insistence, it wants to see Brexit resolved with an agreement with the European Union, and ministers claiming it would not frustrate the process. […]

Brexit and the coronavirus crisis has seen Labour jolt past the Tories in the latest YouGov voter intention poll. Keir Starmer’s party now sits four percentage points ahead of the Tory Party gaining 41% of the vote – a four point jump from the last survey conducted on December 15-16. Meanwhile, the Tories suffered a two point dip – leaving […]

Cracks in the Labour’s position on Brexit have been exacerbated after its leader in Scotland backed calls for an extension. Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard said he supported an extension of EU trade talks in light of the Covid-19 crisis, putting his party at odds with UK leader Sir Keir Starmer. Downing Street has until December 31 to […]

A pro-Brexit trade unionist has said that Labour adapting a rejoin policy “for the foreseeable future” would be a “suicide mission”. Paul Embery. a trade unionist with the FBU and NUJ, claimed that the Labour Party needs to accept that “we’ve got to stay out of the EU” in a warning to Keir Starmer. Speaking […]

Jeremy Corbyn has announced plans for a new organisation to support social justice, peace and human rights in the UK and around the world, one year after Labour was heavily defeated at the general election. The former Labour leader said his Peace and Justice Project will “bring people together” to create “a future that works […]

A shadow minister has claimed that Labour would be “minded to support” any Brexit deal Boris Johnson secures with the EU, as he claimed that the prime minister is playing Russian roulette with people’s jobs and livelihoods by threatening a no-deal scenario. Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband warned that leaving the EU without a free trade agreement […]

In a special report on the anniversary of the 2019 election, Francis Beckett pieces together the inside moments and key decisions – or lack of them – which sealed Labour’s fate. A year ago, a hard Brexit and an 80 seat parliamentary majority for Boris Johnson was the nightmare scenario which few expected. Johnson was […]

Keir Starmer must not be allowed to ‘fence sit’ on the big issue of the day. The leader of the opposition must stand up not only for the 48% who voted Remain but the overwhelming majority of voters and MPs (including most Labour members and voters) who opposed a no-deal or bad deal, the very […]

DAVID WARD writes with pain pride after his son Alex entered office with a terminal illness. Just before noon on Friday May 3, 2019, my phone rang. It was my son Alex: “I’ve only gone and bloody done it” he told me. He had just been elected as a councillor in Ashford in Kent. Four years […]

Labour’s minister for faith has resigned and apologised for making “misjudged” comments relating to gay marriage. Janet Daby said last week that registrars who have a religious objection to same-sex marriages should be protected from losing their jobs if they refuse to certify the partnership. The Lewisham East MP said she “sincerely” apologised for the […]

Readers have their say on how Labour should vote on any Brexit deal. Let us assume, as Alastair Campbell does, that the government reaches a deal with the EU. It is sincerely to be hoped that the Labour Party does not support any such arrangement. To reject a bad deal is not only in the […]

Unite general secretary Len McCluskey has insisted it would be “completely wrong” for Labour not to vote one way or the other, should the UK and EU reach an agreement, given it is the “most important issue of the day”. Shadow ministers appearing on the Sunday round of broadcast interviews repeatedly said they wanted prime […]

Boris Johnson’s majority in “Red Wall” seats could be “wiped-out” at the next general election, new polling has revealed. The Tories could lose as many as 36 out of the 45 “Red Wall” seats it won in last December’s General Election. Voters said mishandlings around the coronavirus and Johnson’s decision to stand by Dominic Cummings following […]

Sir Keir Starmer has said Jeremy Corbyn’s response to a damning report on anti-Semitism in Labour was “just about as bad as you can get”. The opposition leader said he was “disappointed” when his predecessor claimed the issue had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons”. Corbyn was suspended from Labour over his response to the […]

Labour has elected Margaret Beckett as its next National Executive Committee (NEC) chair amid controversy over how the vote was conducted. Members on the left of Labour’s ruling NEC have staged a walk-out in protest at the election of veteran MP Dame Beckett as chair. The members believe Dame Margaret’s election to the role does not […]

Labour’s chief whip has asked Jeremy Corbyn to “unequivocally, unambiguously and without reservation” apologise for claiming that the scale of anti-Semitism in the party was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”. In a letter obtained by the PA news agency, Nick Brown said the former Labour leader’s response to a damning Equality and Human Rights Commission […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on the dilemma facing the Labour Party, if the government secures a Brexit deal with the EU. Greetings from the depression front line. There is a lot if it around. Mine, and, judging by my inbox and random encounters on rare sorties out of the house, plenty of other people’s too. Being out […]

Labour will have to live with its decision on how it votes over a Brexit deal for years to come, says DENIS MacSHANE. Forty nine years ago, 69 brave Labour MPs broke with the party’s conventional wisdom, defied the official whip, and voted to take Britain into Europe. Amongst them was a future party leader, John Smith. The […]

A Labour MP has been rebuked by the speaker in the House of Commons after claiming Boris Johnson’s “foulmouthed-edness has caught up with him”. Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi raised previous comments by the prime minister to point out that his remarks are likely to have made chances of a deal with the president-elect Joe […]

A Labour MP has clashed with a Tory minister after saying Boris Johnson had a “pattern of behaviour” wasting taxpayers’ funds. Shadow housing and communities minister Steve Reed said the prime minister had a track record of spending public funds on projects that were either scrapped or seen as inefficient. Reed also said the Tory party […]

A Labour MP has been left in “shock” following claims by a Tory MP that his party does not have an issue with racism. Labour’s Clive Lewis and Conservative MP Andrew Mitchell exchanged barbs over how each party has reacted to internal issues of racism and ethnic and religious discrimination. The row comes on the back of […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is facing pressure to keep his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn out of the parliamentary party after he was reinstated as a member three weeks after being suspended. Sir Keir has yet to decide whether to restore the whip but said the move to readmit Mr Corbyn by the party’s ruling National […]

Jeremy Corbyn has acknowledged anti-Semitism complaints in Labour were not “exaggerated” just weeks after being suspended for saying they were in a move to have the party reinstate him. The former Labour leader had the whip withdrawn and was suspended from the party over his response to a damning Equality and Human Rights Commission which found that […]

With reports of a Brexit deal “days away” and the UK’s chief negotiator claiming there could be an agreement with the European Union in the next week, all eyes turn to parliament to find out how it might vote. David Frost is reported to have told the prime minister there would be a “possible landing zone” […]