Starmer faces backlash from leftwing MPs over Long-Bailey sacking

Jeremy Corbyn was among a group of leftwing Labour MPs who met Keir Starmer on Friday morning to express their concerns about the sacking of Rebecca Long-Bailey, the Guardian understands.

Starmer is facing a backlash from Labour leftwingers after abruptly removing Long-Bailey from her post as shadow education secretary on Thursday.

According to one person present at Friday’s meeting, held via video link, Corbyn urged Starmer to continue to take a tough line on the annexation of Palestinian territory, and to meet the leftwing group Jewish Voice for Labour.

JVL supported Corbyn when he faced claims of failing to tackle antisemitism during his leadership. Part of Corbyn’s contribution to Friday’s meeting was obscured by a poor internet connection.

Long-Bailey had tweeted a newspaper interview with Maxine Peake, calling the actor an “absolute diamond”.

In discussing the Black Lives Matter movement, Peake linked the behaviour of US police with Israel – something Starmer called an “antisemitic conspiracy theory”. Peake, a longtime Labour supporter, subsequently apologised.

Corbyn has adopted a relatively low profile since stepping down from the leadership in the wake of December’s general election defeat. But Friday’s meeting underlines the fact that a well-organised leftwing caucus has been preparing to act as a focal point for dissent against Starmer’s leadership.

The former deputy leadership candidate Richard Burgon has been building up the profile and resources of the Socialist Campaign Group, with the backing of Corbyn’s close ally and former shadow chancellor John McDonnell. Both were present at Friday’s meeting.

Burgon’s allies say he wants to make it into a leftwing version of the Fabian Society.

On Thursday evening, after Long-Bailey’s sacking, McDonnell shared a petition calling for her reinstatement, which had gathered almost 10,000 signatures by Friday morning.

The general secretary of the Unite union, Len McCluskey, tweeted that Starmer’s decision was “an unnecessary over-reaction to a confected row”, adding that “unity is too important to be risked like this”.

Friday’s meeting was described as calm and reasonable, with one MP sympathetic to Long-Bailey contrasting it with past unruly behaviour by backbench MPs hostile to Corbyn’s leadership. Starmer was, they said, “his usual self”.

Starmer has repeatedly promised to take a more aggressive approach in dealing with antisemitism, but his team is now keen to move on from the row about Long-Bailey, and turn the focus back on to the performance of the government.