A senior ally of Jeremy Corbyn has dismissed as “nonsense” suggestions Keir Starmer privately fought against the former leader’s handling of antisemitism while in his shadow cabinet. Diane Abbott, who at the time was shadow home secretary, disputed the defence levied by Starmer supporters that he had spoken up about the issue at the time, given the criticism he has faced for serving in Corbyn’s top team as shadow Brexit secretary.
The Jewish Labour MP Margaret Hodge told Sky News on Wednesday that “people had to take personal decisions as to how they were going to respond to the appalling circumstances we found ourselves in”. Defending Starmer, she said some people had left the Labour party but others “decided to fight it from within”. “Keir decided to fight it privately, and I think those were really, really, really difficult decisions to take at the time. But what I can say to you is Keir’s leadership, since he became elected as leader of the Labour party, you just can’t quarrel with it.” But Abbott, who worked with Starmer in the shadow cabinet for three and a half years, tweeted: “I was in Jeremy’s shadow cabinet alongside Starmer. It is nonsense to say he was fighting privately.” Her suggestion appears at odds with recollections by another figure who served in the shadow cabinet under Corbyn, Emily Thornberry. The then shadow foreign secretary said during the 2020 leadership hustings that she and Starmer “would regularly, the two of us, call for a regular report to the shadow cabinet” on how the issue of antisemitism was being addressed. A senior Labour source also emphasised that Starmer had been “responsible” for getting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism implemented, after going on the BBC to “demand it of the leadership”. Starmer’s role in Corbyn’s shadow cabinet has been used by senior Tories, including the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, to tie the Labour leader to the antisemitism row that engulfed the party for many years. This week Starmer sought to impress how he had reformed the party and rooted out antisemitism, when he announced the UK equalities watchdog had taken Labour out of special measures. To further highlight the change in leadership, Starmer told Corbyn he would not be allowed to stand for Labour in the Islington North seat he has represented since 1983 at the next general election. Corbyn, who still has the Labour whip suspended in parliament, has called the decision a “flagrant attack” on democracy. • This article was amended on 25 February 2023. Jeremy Corbyn has represented the seat of Islington North since 1983, not 1980 as an earlier version said.