Luciana Berger has returned to the Labour party after an invitation and apology from Keir Starmer, four years after leaving the party over its handling of antisemitism cases. “The Labour party has turned a significant corner under Keir’s leadership,” Berger said in a tweet on Saturday. “I’m pleased to be returning to my political home.”
Berger, 41, served as MP for Liverpool Wavertree until her departure from Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour in 2019 amid the party’s antisemitism row. She was the highest-profile Jewish MP to quit. Starmer shared a letter in which he apologised for Berger’s “intolerable and unacceptable” experience in Labour’s ranks.
“You left because you were forced out by intimidation, thuggery and racism,” he wrote. “Yours was a principled and brave move. But it was one you should never have been forced to take. That day will forever be a stain on Labour’s history.” He added: “The abuse you suffered was disgusting. You were left isolated and exposed. Shamefully, those who should have defended you stood by.” In her response accepting Starmer’s invitation, Berger said her previous Labour tenure was a “grim journey […] during which the party fell into the depths of the abyss under Jeremy Corbyn’s reign”. “I never expected to bear witness to the volume and toxicity of anti-Jewish racism espoused by people who had been allowed to join Labour, and to experience a leadership that treated antisemitism within the party’s ranks differently to every other kind of racism – and that by refusing to condemn it, encouraged it,” she wrote. “But that is exactly what happened.” The human rights watchdog found that the party broke equality law over its handling of antisemitism complaints.
A report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission in 2020 found that the party was responsible for unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination. Corbyn rejected some of the report’s findings and claimed the issue had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons” by his critics. His comments led to Labour’s headquarters suspending him from the party. Berger said she is “looking forward to rejoining the party” and working with Starmer. “It is time to replace this reckless and divisive government and ultimately make a difference our country so desperately deserves,” she said. News of Berger’s return was welcomed by a number of Labour MPs. Labour North West tweeted: “We are sorry that we left you. You never left us. You were forced out of the Labour party, but under Keir Starmer’s leadership you will feel at home once again.” As a Labour MP, Berger spoke of suffering a torrent of antisemitic abuse online and in person, and relied on police protection at Labour’s annual conference. One man who sent antisemitic threats to Berger was jailed for two years in 2017. While eight months pregnant, Berger faced a no-confidence motion within her Liverpool Wavertree constituency over her criticism of Corbyn. The motion was withdrawn after it emerged that a key opponent in the local party called her a “disruptive Zionist”. After her exit from Labour, Berger moved to the Independent Group of MPs, later joining the Liberal Democrats.