Labour MPs 'plotting rule change' that would give them power to kick Jeremy Corbyn out of parliamentary party PERMANENTLY without involving Keir Starmer

Corbyn has sat as an independent MP since having whip suspended a year ago
Currently Keir Starmer and chief whip have power to make it permanent
MPs was to take on power, which would allow Starmer to keep his hands clean

By David Wilcock, Whitehall Correspondent For Mailonline

Published: 11:19 BST, 21 October 2021 | Updated: 11:19 BST, 21 October 2021

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Labour MPs are planning to attempt to expel Jeremy Corbyn permanently from the parliamentary party, in a move with could case fresh turmoil in the party.

They are said to want to change internal rules to give themselves the power to make his suspension from representing the party on the green benches permanent.

Mr Corbyn has sat as an independent in the Commons after having the Labour whip removed last year in the wake of a damning independent investigation into anti-Semitism during his tenure.

But the suspension is, at least in theory, temporary, and any attempt to make it permanent would cause an outcry among his hard left supporters.

Those behind the plan are said to believe that it would remove the need for Mr Corbyn's successor Sir Keir Starmer to get involved in such a divisive action, Sky News reported.

But a party source today told MailOnline that the idea was 'nonsense' and there was no appetite for such a manoeuvre.

Mr Corbyn has sat as an independent in the Commons after having the Labour whip removed last year in the wake of a damning independent investigation into anti-Semitism during his tenure.

Those behind the plan are said to believe that it would remove the need for Mr Corbyn's successor Sir Keir Starmer to get involved in such a divisive action, Sky News reported

Corbyn: in Labour but not in Labour

Jeremy Corbyn is something of Shroedinger's MP at the moment, both inside Labour and outside it thanks to rather Byzantine party rules

He had both the party whip - which allows him to represent Labour in the Commons - and his party membership suspended last October after claiming the scale of anti-Semitism had been 'dramatically overstated for political reasons' by opponents, along with the media.

However his membership was later rstored by a panel from its national Executive Committee, whose five members are independent of the Labour leadership.

However the NEC has no power to restore the whip. That decision rests with Sir Keir and party chief whip Nick Brown.

It means that he is a Labour Party member, even while he is barred from sitting as a Labour MP.

Mr Corbyn knows that an apology for his remarks is a pre-requisite for having the ship restored, but he has yet to do so. At the conference fringe last month he and his supporters rounded on a party member who asked him when he would apologise.

Any reignition of the party's civil war over Mr Corbyn's leadership and subsequent fall from grace would create negative headlines at a time Sir Keir is trying to restore the party's image as a unit fit to govern instead of Boris Johnson.

The MPs are said to have been emboldened by rule changes brought in at the party conference in Brighton last month that makes it harder for them to be deselected by hard-left local party members.

At the same conference, Mr Corbyn refused to rule out running as an independent if he is still suspended when the next general election takes place.

Speaking at a fringe event alongside MP Barry Gardiner he was asked about his plans in Islington North seat but refused to discuss 'hypotheticals'.

But he added: 'As far as I am concerned I was proud to be elected as the Labour MP in December 2019. I have been elected 10 times for my constituency since 1983. I love the area, I do my best to represent all the people in the community...

'I don’t think the Parliamentary Labour Party should try to gainsay what the National Executive has decided so as far as I am concerned there is no case other than I should be reinstated on the Labour whip.'

An election is expected in 2023 or 2024. If Mr Corbyn was to stand as an independent it would be a major headache for Sir Keir, who has been under attack from the Corbynista left wing of the party at the Brighton conference.

He has been attempting to show that Labour can be trusted after its anti-Semitism shame under Mr Corbyn, but a run by the outcast former leader would reopen wounds and could damage the party's chances.