Time to move on from row about Corbyn, says Shrewsbury Labour Party official

Wynn Davies, chairman of Shrewsbury and Atcham Labour Party, said he had great confidence that correct procedures had been followed over the decision to readmit former leader Jeremy Corbyn just 19 days after he was suspended.

His comments were echoed by Graeme Currie, Labour's candidate for North Shropshire at the last General Election, who said it was time for the party to unite.

Mr Corbyn was suspended from the party after being accused of playing down the scale of anti-Semitism in the party.

He was readmitted on Tuesday, although party leader Sir Keir Starmer has refused to restore the party whip to him in parliament, meaning he will now sit in the Commons as an independent MP.

Mr Corbyn's readmittance has sparked a furious response from critics including former Labour MP Lord Austin, who has renewed calls for Mr Corbyn to be kicked out of the party for good.

But Mr Davies said the decision followed four hours of deliberations by a panel from the party's national executive committee, with legal experts in attendance.

"We have confidence in the party, we have great confidence in the new leadership of Keir Starmer, it's time to move on and focus on the bungling incompetence of the Government, and fighting to encourage more Labour councillors to be elected in Shropshire," he said. "Shropshire has suffered from 10 years of austerity.

"The whole of the Labour Party is resolute in its opposition to any form of racism, and particularly anti-Semitism."

Mr Davies would not be drawn on whether it was right or wrong to readmit Mr Corbyn, saying that he was not privy to the information that the panel members had before them.

"It is not something we are talking about in Shrewsbury and Atcham," he said.

Mr Corbyn was suspended over his reaction to a bombshell report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), which said that “unlawful” anti-Semitic harassment took place in the party under his watch.

He offered no apology for his failure to tackle the issue, saying the scale of anti-Semitism in the party had been “overstated” for political gains.

Mr Currie said while Mr Corbyn should have chosen his words more carefully, there was no mood in the Labour Party to see him expelled.

"I'm glad he's been reinstated, a lot of people in the party were upset when he had been suspended," said Mr Currie.

"At the time Jeremy said we needed to just calm down, saying it was probably only temporary while things were sorted, and it looks like that's what's happened.

"Jeremy's words were perhaps not so well considered, on the day of the report, but now he's been readmitted we can go back to doing what we should be doing, and that is opposing this incompetent Conservative government."

"We need to be united, talking about the Conservative government rather than our own internal problems."

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer – who has pledged a “zero tolerance” policy on anti-Semitism – said: “Jeremy Corbyn’s statement in response to the EHRC report was wrong and completely distracted from a report that identified unlawful conduct in our tackling of racism within the Labour Party. This should shame us all.”

Former Dudley North MP Lord Austin, who quit Labour over what he described as a lurch towards extremism under Mr Corbyn, has urged Sir Keir to throw his predecessor out of the party.

He said: “So much for the change that was promised. Labour had a big opportunity to show Jewish people and the country that it had learnt from the disgraceful way anti-Jewish racism poisoned the party over the last five years and that things would change and they have failed to do that.

“I praised Keir Starmer when Corbyn was suspended but this undermines the progress he has made. They have to decide if they want to repair relations with Jewish people and show lifelong Labour voters who turned away in disgust at extremism and racism under Corbyn things have changed."