By any yardstick, it has been a huge turnaround. Just over two years ago, the Equality and Human Rights Commission concluded an investigation into Labour and antisemitism that found the party was responsible for “unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination”, while the leadership was guilty of “serious failings”. It was a terrible moment for a party that often lays claim to being a champion of equality. On Wednesday, the EHRC took Labour out of special measures, saying it was satisfied that the party had done what was necessary “to protect current and future … members from discrimination and harassment”.
Much of the credit goes to Keir Starmer, who became Labour leader shortly after that report and who promised in his acceptance speech to “tear out this poison [of antisemitism] by its roots”. He was right to take such a strong stance, just as Jeremy Corbyn was wrong in his initial response. Mr Corbyn has a formidable record fighting against racism and in speaking up for many persecuted peoples, but in this case he was too slow and too defensive. To show how much better he was than some of his critics allowed, he should have tried harder to engage with their criticisms.
Erasing the dark marks of the recent past should not mean disavowing everything that happened between 2015 and 2020. There is a danger that Mr Starmer’s determination not to allow Mr Corbyn to represent Labour at the next election comes to symbolise that stance. “The Labour party is unrecognisable from 2019 and it will never go back,” Mr Starmer said on Wednesday. “If you don’t like that, if you don’t like the changes we have made, I say the door is open and you can leave.” That sounds like a message to the hundreds of thousands of people who joined Labour in those years and the millions who voted for the party that they aren’t welcome.
To conflate the antisemitism of some on the left with all leftwing politics is illogical and shortsighted. Given the state of the country and the world, now is not the time to dismiss important ideas just because John McDonnell once smiled at them. Not only is the former shadow chancellor one of the most interesting economic thinkers in the Labour party, he was also right to oppose austerity from 2010 onwards – not a claim that can be made by all of the shadow cabinet.
Mr Starmer served in the frontbench team of his predecessor. He ran for leader promising to carry on the ideas of his predecessor. To proclaim that there is no place for Mr Corbyn in today’s Labour party, no matter what he says or does, not only looks vindictive, it poses serious questions about the consistency of the current leader – questions that his opponents will be all too happy to raise come the next general election.
Under first past the post, Westminster has two main parties that serve as broad churches. Pluralism is a vital part of British democracy, as Nicola Sturgeon reminded us from Holyrood on Wednesday. Exile dissenters, as Boris Johnson did to his team, and you deprive yourself of essential talent and useful challenge. The current cabinet shows the results, being a jumble of lightweights, wannabe talk-radio hosts and technocratic robots. Mr Starmer is not in No 10 and his team does not face the same scrutiny, but he would be wise to look at the no-hopers opposite and take lessons. A strong leader can handle constructive criticism; a would-be government should have all the talents. And no single political team has all the answers.
