Will Jeremy Corbyn be able to run for Labour at the general election?

Standard-bearer of the left has been accused of accepting a £5,000 donation from a body regarded as a front for dissident ex-Labour supporters. Sean O’Grady wonders what the future holds for the former party leader

Time is running out for Jeremy Corbyn to build momentum as an independent MP (PA)

Former party leader and cult figure Jeremy Corbyn is facing expulsion from the Labour Party because he has accepted a donation of £5,000 from a body called “We Deserve Better” to support his “political activities”. Some Labour officials regard We Deserve Better as a front organisation for dissident ex-Labour supporters and members to back “independent” socialistic candidates at the next election, possibly including those representing the Greens and George Galloway’s Workers’ Party of Britain. Thus, We Deserve Better are supporting the Green Party’s Carla Denyer against shadow cabinet member Thangam Debbonaire in the Bristol Central constituency.

In response to the revelations, Wes Streeting, shadow health secretary and long-time hammer of the left, declared that Mr Corbyn in any case would not be an official Labour candidate nor an MP in the next parliament. Labour Party rules state that any member “declaring an intention to stand in a public election in opposition to a party candidate” faces automatic exclusion from the party. That justification for expelling Mr Corbyn is seemingly a bit of a stretch at the moment, but such is Sir Keir Starmer’s grip that it can’t be ruled out.

Is this significant?