JEREMY Corbyn has announced he is standing as an independent candidate in the General Election as he has been expelled from the Labour Party.
The former Labour leader said he will stand in his constituency of Islington North, vowing to be “an independent voice for equality, democracy and peace”.
Corbyn had been suspended by Labour since 2020 after he refused to fully accept the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s findings that the party broke equality law when he was in charge and said antisemitism had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
He has now been banished by the party after announcing he will stand as an independent candidate.
He told the Islington Tribune that he would fight to retain a seat he has represented for 40 years, adding: “We have to stand up and defend our rights.”
Corbyn appealed to lifelong Labour voters, saying that “I am here to represent the people of Islington North on exactly the same principles that I’ve stood by my whole life: social justice, human rights and peace”.
The former Labour leader (above) went on to say that “these principles are needed now more than ever before”, vowing to defend “a genuine alternative to the corrupt years of this Tory government,” including rent controls, public ownership of energy and water, the abolition of the two-child benefits cap, a Green New Deal, and an ethical foreign policy based on peace and human rights.
Corbyn added: “When I was first elected, I made a promise to stand by my constituents no matter what. In Islington North, we keep our promises.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer (below) reacted to the news during his interview with BBC Breakfast, saying: "Well, look, that's a matter for Jeremy, he's obviously made his mind up about that.
"We will have an excellent Labour candidate in Islington North, as we've got excellent Labour candidates across the country.
"But in the end, this election is about a choice, a choice of five more years of the chaos and division that we've seen over the last 14 years or turning the page and rebuilding our country with Labour.
"That is what's on the ballot paper, whether it's in Islington North or anywhere else across the country."
It wasn't long after Starmer's comments that it emerged that Corbyn had been informed that his party membership had been revoked.
Labour is yet to announce its candidate for the Islington North seat.
