Labour’s Left is accusing Keir Starmer of a “purge” after a Labour candidate was barred from standing in the General Election for liking a series of posts on X that downplayed accusations of antisemitism. The Telegraph has more.
Faiza Shaheen, an economist and academic, was selected to be Labour’s candidate in the north London constituency of Chingford & Woodford Green but found out on Wednesday night that she will not be endorsed by the party.
She is the latest prospective Left-wing Labour candidate to be barred by the party from standing on July 4th and it comes amid the row over the candidacy of former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott.
The Telegraph reported on Wednesday that Labour has also suspended Lloyd Russell-Moyle, the MP for Brighton Kemptown, pending the outcome of an investigation into a serious complaint received last week.
Earlier on Wednesday former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Sir Keir Starmer of carrying out a “purge”.
Ms. Shaheen said she had “thought” she was the Labour candidate for the constituency, but got an email on Wednesday evening that she said claimed she would “frustrate Labour’s purpose”. …
Ms. Shaheen liked a post on X, formerly Twitter, alleging that anyone critical of Israel is “assailed” by “professional organisations” who “every time” inflict “non-stop harassment” and “accuse you of antisemitism”.
The post went on to claim that “you can’t easily ignore” the Israel lobby because they “tend to be your friends or people who move in the same circles as you”.
Ms. Shaheen later appeared on Newsnight to whinge about her deselection.
Her exclusion follows the suspension of Lloyd Russell-Moyle, the Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown, pending the outcome of an investigation into a serious complaint received last week.
Keir Starmer is clearly resolute on presenting a ‘changed’ Labour Party, distancing it from the one that held Jeremy Corbyn in such high regard. However, his recent flip-flopping over Diane Abbott shows that this strategy, with some party factions still nostalgic for the Corbyn era (after all, he won the leadership by courting their support), has perilously frayed the bonds between leader and party, signalling trouble ahead for Sir Keir should Labour win power in July.
Stop Press: Angela Rayner has thrown Starmer under the bus by coming out in support of Diane Abbott, according to the Telegraph.
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