Labour consumed by infighting over future of Jeremy Corbyn

Poll shows party's voters are split on the issue

Labour was consumed by infighting on Thursday over the fate of Jeremy Corbyn, following Keir Starmer's decision to ban him from the party's parliamentary group.

MPs and unions from the party's left criticised the "divisive" move, while supporters of the leadership said it was inevitable.

Len McCluskey, the general secretary of the Unite union, had accused the party of a "witch hunt" against the former leader, who he described as a "decent man".

Mr Corbyn this week had his Labour membership reinstated after the party was unable to say what rule he had been suspended under.  

But after the move provoked an outcry from critics of the former leader, Sir Keir took further action of his own and withheld the whip from Mr Corbyn, meaning he is a party member but not part of the party's group in parliament. It was reported on Thursday night that the suspension will last three months.

Frontbencher Louise Haigh told ITV News:  "For Jeremy to respond in the way that he did was appalling and I think it left Keir with very little choice but to keep the whip off this this week because he's refused to acknowledge his role in it and to properly apologise."

But former frontbencher Ian Lavery told the Huffington Post website: "It looks very much that this is a vengeful, divisive, provocative sort of move from Keir Starmer.

“This isn’t about uniting the party – it looks to me as if it’s a personal and political vendetta now from the new leader of the party to the previous leader of the party.”

A new poll found Labour voters are split over whether Mr Corbyn should be reinstated, with 32 per cent saying Sir Keir's actions are wrong and 38 per cent saying they are right.

Tories however overwhelmingly want Mr Corbyn gone, with 69 per cent saying he was right and 17 cent wrong wrong.

Mr Corbyn was suspended after he responded to the Equality and Human Rights Commission report into antisemitism in Labour.

The former leader said antisemitism was abhorrent, but that the problem within the party had been exaggerated by its opponents.

Ahead of his reinstatement, Mr Corbyn issued a further statement saying he regretted the hurt caused to the Jewish community over the matter.

But critics say he should have gone further and apologised for his role in the party's handling of the issue. The EHRC said the party had acted unlawfully, in part because its complaints system was not fit for purpose, and that Mr Corbyn's office should not have intervened politically to speed up the handling of some complaints.