As the Labour apparatus imposes a shortlist of just two candidates in Islington North, with zero consultation with the local constituency party, Jeremy Corbyn has announced he will fight to retain his seat as an independent.

Kate Dove, Momentum Chair said: “This is an almighty mess for Labour and Keir Starmer alone bears responsibility.

“Jeremy Corbyn has loyally served the people of Islington North as their Labour MP for over 40 years. He wanted to run again as the Labour candidate and the local party backed him too. But Starmer and his Westminster clique again denied local people the chance to choose their own candidate and blocked Jeremy. Starmer has treated the people of Islington with contempt, setting the stage for a divisive and distracting election campaign.

“We urge the Labour Leadership not to repeat this damaging debacle in Hackney with Diane Abbott. Britain’s first black woman MP, who Keir Starmer rightly called a ‘trailblazer’, deserves to run as the Labour candidate, as local members voted.

“Jeremy’s leadership brought positions like public ownership, fairer taxation and opposition to war and austerity back to the mainstream, policies which are more urgent and popular than ever. He turned Labour into a mass membership party once again. In response he was subjected to the most vicious, relentless, and dishonest campaign of character assassination in modern British political history, which he has faced with dignity and decency.

“But where Starmer once decried how the media ‘vilified’ his ‘friend’ and promised to build on his legacy, he has done the exact opposite. Starmer’s attacks on Jeremy were never just about one man – they were about driving out the socialist politics he represented, in favour of elite interests.  We will not allow Labour’s founding socialist values to be driven out of the party. Momentum will continue to stand up for real Labour values within the party, while campaigning for socialist and trade unionist Labour candidates in the coming election.”

As some on the right of the Party try to falsify history by claiming Jeremy Corbyn was blocked from being a Labour candidate because of “anti-Semitism”, it’s worth recalling that the motion Keir Starmer got passed at the National Executive Committee last year did not mention the issue.

Many socialists will feel highly conflicted about this turn of events. Supporters of Jeremy Corbyn are calling for volunteers to sign up in large numbers to back his campaign.

Momentum are warning, however, that Party activists should be aware that Labour officials are likely to seek the expulsion of members who advocate support for Jeremy – even retweets, reposts or likes on a post.

A spokesperson said: “Momentum won’t let Labour’s founding socialist values be driven out of our Party. We will stay in Labour, the political home of the trade union movement, and keep fighting for real Labour values and a democratic party. Sign up and donate today and help us canvass for socialist and trade unionist Labour MPs in the Election.”

Image: Jeremy Corbyn. Source: https://members-api.parliament.uk/api/Members/185/Portrait?cropType=ThreeFour&webVersion=false. Author: Richard Townsend, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.