First stage of Jeremy Corbyn's battle with Labour goes to High Court
The New European
Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn - Credit: Archant / Anthony Kelly
The first stage of Jeremy Corbyn’s legal battle with Labour over his suspension from the parliamentary party will be heard by the High Court.
Lawyers for the former opposition leader are applying for the disclosure of documents ahead of a possible legal challenge over his suspension.
At a remote hearing on Monday afternoon, Judge Lisa Sullivan will consider an application for “pre-action disclosure” by Mr Corbyn’s legal team.
His case is expected to relate to the Islington North MP’s original suspension and the negotiation with the Leader of the Opposition’s office over the terms of his reinstatement.
It has previously been reported that they will seek evidence proving there was a deal with Sir Keir Starmer’s office to readmit him to the party.
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Corbyn was suspended from Labour in October for claiming that the scale of anti-Semitism in the party was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
He later attempted to clarify his comments in a statement to the party, saying concerns about anti-Semitism were “neither ‘exaggerated’ nor ‘overstated’”.
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Corbyn was reinstated as a party member by the National Executive Committee following a meeting of a disciplinary panel three weeks after his suspension.
But his successor as party leader – Sir Keir – blocked him from sitting as a Labour MP, though he said he would keep the decision not to restore the whip “under review”.
The PA news agency revealed in November that the party’s chief whip, Nick Brown, asked Corbyn to “unequivocally, unambiguously and without reservation” apologise for his comments.
The hearing, which is being conducted over Microsoft Teams, is due to begin at 2pm on Monday.
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