Jeremy Corbyn

ISLINGTON North MP Jeremy Corbyn has hit back at Sir Keir Starmer’s claim that he had re-vitalised the Labour party.

During his resignation speech on Monday, Mr Starmer said that six years ago he had “inherited a Labour party that was politically, financially, and morally bankrupt”, adding: “I was told, time and time again, that my party was finished”. It was his leadership which took the party back to power, the prime minister insisted.

But Mr Corbyn, his predecessor as Labour leader, refuted this narrative, pointing to Labour’s falling membership numbers under Mr Starmer. He said the prime minister had “abandoned those in need” and that this was the real “legacy or moral and political bankruptcy.”

The Islington North MP – now an independent – told the Tribune that it was Mr Starmer’s “very strange response” to May’s council elections which paved the way for his resignation.

“So far as I can see, he played little to no role in the local elections, and when the results came out, he didn’t head across the country to try and shore up support, he hunkered down and became an isolated figure”, Mr Corbyn said.

He added that Mr Starmer had alienated voters and become “out of touch with people and their needs”, referencing the prime minister’s appointment of Mandelson “against all rational advice”, as well as “his attempts to take away PIP from people with disabilities”.

Asked whether the resignation was setting a precedent for a revolving door of prime ministers, Mr Corbyn said: “Obviously being a party leader or PM is a tough job — and you have to make yourself accountable to a lot of sometimes contradictory forces and groups, but being in touch with them is part of the importance of survival.”

He added, however, that “we need to have an understanding that politics is not just about personalities, it’s about how decisions affect people’s lives.”

Mr Corbyn said he hoped Andy Burnham would implement a “radical” agenda to combat poverty.

He said: “I would also hope he would signal a massive change on international strategy away from arming Israel and in favour of peace in all conflicts around the world: Ukraine, Sudan, Congo, Iran and Lebanon.”