Former union boss Len McCluskey has urged former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to run for Parliament as an independent if he remains suspended from the party.
Mr McCluskey, who was the head of the influential Unite union for a decade until his departure in 2021, unleashed a full-throated attack on Sir Keir Starmer during an appearance on GBNews.
The ex-union boss, a key member of Mr Corbyn’s inner circle, warned: “I believe in the next five years politics is going to be extremely fluid. Whether there’s the creation of a new political party, because Labour is no longer Labour, I don’t know. I’m going to watch with interest as that develops.”
It has previously been claimed that Mr Corbyn’s “Peace and Justice” movement could become a fully-fledged political party if he does not have the Labour whip restored – while left-wing figures have in recent months rallied a coalition under the “Enough is Enough” banner to protest the cost of living crisis.
Mr McCluskey said he initially kept lines of communication open after Sir Keir became Labour leader in 2020 – revealing they were involved in direct discussions one day after Mr Corbyn was suspended over comments about anti-Semitism.
Despite pleas to bring him “back in”, Sir Keir ultimately opted to withdraw the Labour whip from his predecessor.
Mr McCluskey recalled: “It was at that moment that I lost any trust in Keir Starmer.
“The man’s a liar, as far as I’m concerned. People have said to me, why did I lose trust? I’ve been a negotiator all my life, and when you cut a deal with somebody… the trust is obviously broken.”
He accused Sir Keir of ditching the “Corbyn-esque platform” he put forward during the Labour leadership election, adding: “He completely turned turtle, and he’s now attacking the left – not just marginalising, but I think seeking to drive the left out of the Labour party.
“Seeking to kill off – once and for all – the socialist heart of the Labour Party, which has always been there since its inception. So, now I’ve got very little time for Keir, and I’m sad to say that.”
Mr Corbyn continues to sit in Parliament as the independent MP for Islington North, but cannot be the Labour candidate at the next election, expected in 2024, unless the whip is restored.
Asked if Mr Corbyn should run as an independent, Mr McCluskey said: “I personally do, without a shadow of a doubt… his constituents love him. It’s his constituency… he walks round the streets, he knows people. So I think he absolutely should run again.”
The current Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, has steered the union away from the scale of direct political intervention seen under Mr McCluskey, opting to focus instead on industrial disputes.
Mr McClsukey referred to her as an “industrial militant”, adding: “That’s her right to do that, it would be wrong for me as a retiring general secretary to sit on the sidelines and start saying that’s wrong.”
In his heyday multimillionaire union baron Len “Jabba” McCluskey was considered as the Rupert Murdoch of the Left, endeavoring to remote-control the Labour party through his network of well-placed cronies. Starmer put a stop to all of that.
Needless to say he and his numerous ex-wives, girlfriends and ex-girlfriends have been very angry over the past couple of years and looking for a way to regain their former influence. If not Labour, why not a new crank party bankrolled by Unite the Union members’ hard-earned money?
The hard-right loonies in the tory party were whatsapping exactly the same sentiment after Sunak won. What times we live in.
Have to get rid of FPTP first. Perhaps Labour should make this a policy, and actually follow through this time.
Yes because that’s what the left needs, more splitting up.
First past the post decimates smaller parties. Even if Labour split exactly in half (by voters), the two subsequent parties would get less MPs in total than Labour gets now. If he want a new party he needs to come out in support of voting reform.
I’m sure any donor would happily hand over money to a party Ken founded.
Apart from the hotel he built with Unite money. It went from a budget of £7m to a cost of £98m.
He does have a point about Keir and his promises though…
Left wing parties will always fail electorally with FPTP.
Labour hasn’t been Labour since his Tonyness took over.
I don’t know why they can’t just keep a lid on it to allow Keir get it over the line, and then force him out right after they have won the election?
No you fucking fucks, the left doesn’t need even more parties
Haven’t they done this a million times?? TUSC, Left unity, etc etc.
Can’t work under the current electoral system so not even really worth discussing.
I feel the same about the fake conservatives Len but unfortunately the major parties are bed blockers that prevent real politics from happening. We don’t need 4 center left parties but that’s what we’ve ended up with.
Presumably so they can focus on their real enemies in the Judean Peoples Front.
this is how the tories are always in power. The public take one look at this and audibly groan. I agree with many of the left’s sentiments, but it’s England we’re talking about here. Expecting a socialist society is just a dream. The best you’re ever gonna do is some bloke in a suit that acts slightly more leftist than Tony Blair and who doesn’t drag us into a illegal war. Anything further and the media would obliterate them.
Sounds good, that would help me to vote labour! Slightly lefter than the Tories but not socialist… I like it.
Labour has a 35-40 point poll leads.
Far left in Labour – ‘we don’t want any power though, we just want to bitch and complain about anything and everything’
If that’s the case, then Labour will back PR. It’s the unions holding PR back because without Labour, they’d have no political clout.
18 comments
Former union boss Len McCluskey has urged former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to run for Parliament as an independent if he remains suspended from the party.
Mr McCluskey, who was the head of the influential Unite union for a decade until his departure in 2021, unleashed a full-throated attack on Sir Keir Starmer during an appearance on GBNews.
The ex-union boss, a key member of Mr Corbyn’s inner circle, warned: “I believe in the next five years politics is going to be extremely fluid. Whether there’s the creation of a new political party, because Labour is no longer Labour, I don’t know. I’m going to watch with interest as that develops.”
It has previously been claimed that Mr Corbyn’s “Peace and Justice” movement could become a fully-fledged political party if he does not have the Labour whip restored – while left-wing figures have in recent months rallied a coalition under the “Enough is Enough” banner to protest the cost of living crisis.
Mr McCluskey said he initially kept lines of communication open after Sir Keir became Labour leader in 2020 – revealing they were involved in direct discussions one day after Mr Corbyn was suspended over comments about anti-Semitism.
Despite pleas to bring him “back in”, Sir Keir ultimately opted to withdraw the Labour whip from his predecessor.
Mr McCluskey recalled: “It was at that moment that I lost any trust in Keir Starmer.
“The man’s a liar, as far as I’m concerned. People have said to me, why did I lose trust? I’ve been a negotiator all my life, and when you cut a deal with somebody… the trust is obviously broken.”
He accused Sir Keir of ditching the “Corbyn-esque platform” he put forward during the Labour leadership election, adding: “He completely turned turtle, and he’s now attacking the left – not just marginalising, but I think seeking to drive the left out of the Labour party.
“Seeking to kill off – once and for all – the socialist heart of the Labour Party, which has always been there since its inception. So, now I’ve got very little time for Keir, and I’m sad to say that.”
Mr Corbyn continues to sit in Parliament as the independent MP for Islington North, but cannot be the Labour candidate at the next election, expected in 2024, unless the whip is restored.
Asked if Mr Corbyn should run as an independent, Mr McCluskey said: “I personally do, without a shadow of a doubt… his constituents love him. It’s his constituency… he walks round the streets, he knows people. So I think he absolutely should run again.”
The current Unite general secretary, Sharon Graham, has steered the union away from the scale of direct political intervention seen under Mr McCluskey, opting to focus instead on industrial disputes.
Mr McClsukey referred to her as an “industrial militant”, adding: “That’s her right to do that, it would be wrong for me as a retiring general secretary to sit on the sidelines and start saying that’s wrong.”
In his heyday multimillionaire union baron Len “Jabba” McCluskey was considered as the Rupert Murdoch of the Left, endeavoring to remote-control the Labour party through his network of well-placed cronies. Starmer put a stop to all of that.
Needless to say he and his numerous ex-wives, girlfriends and ex-girlfriends have been very angry over the past couple of years and looking for a way to regain their former influence. If not Labour, why not a new crank party bankrolled by Unite the Union members’ hard-earned money?
The hard-right loonies in the tory party were whatsapping exactly the same sentiment after Sunak won. What times we live in.
Have to get rid of FPTP first. Perhaps Labour should make this a policy, and actually follow through this time.
Yes because that’s what the left needs, more splitting up.
First past the post decimates smaller parties. Even if Labour split exactly in half (by voters), the two subsequent parties would get less MPs in total than Labour gets now. If he want a new party he needs to come out in support of voting reform.
I’m sure any donor would happily hand over money to a party Ken founded.
Apart from the hotel he built with Unite money. It went from a budget of £7m to a cost of £98m.
He does have a point about Keir and his promises though…
Left wing parties will always fail electorally with FPTP.
Labour hasn’t been Labour since his Tonyness took over.
I don’t know why they can’t just keep a lid on it to allow Keir get it over the line, and then force him out right after they have won the election?
No you fucking fucks, the left doesn’t need even more parties
Haven’t they done this a million times?? TUSC, Left unity, etc etc.
Can’t work under the current electoral system so not even really worth discussing.
I feel the same about the fake conservatives Len but unfortunately the major parties are bed blockers that prevent real politics from happening. We don’t need 4 center left parties but that’s what we’ve ended up with.
Presumably so they can focus on their real enemies in the Judean Peoples Front.
this is how the tories are always in power. The public take one look at this and audibly groan. I agree with many of the left’s sentiments, but it’s England we’re talking about here. Expecting a socialist society is just a dream. The best you’re ever gonna do is some bloke in a suit that acts slightly more leftist than Tony Blair and who doesn’t drag us into a illegal war. Anything further and the media would obliterate them.
Sounds good, that would help me to vote labour! Slightly lefter than the Tories but not socialist… I like it.
Labour has a 35-40 point poll leads.
Far left in Labour – ‘we don’t want any power though, we just want to bitch and complain about anything and everything’
If that’s the case, then Labour will back PR. It’s the unions holding PR back because without Labour, they’d have no political clout.
In summary: Len is full of shit.