Keir Starmer told to show 'backbone' as Labour leaves open the door to Jeremy Corbyn's return

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of lacking “backbone” after he refused to condemn Jeremy Corbyn and senior Labour figures suggested the door was now open for his return.

The Labour leader on Friday held private talks with key union leader and Corbyn ally Len McCluksey alongside the party’s general secretary David Evans, fuelling speculation that a major climbdown could be on the horizon.

It came as allies of Sir Keir suggested that Mr Corbyn could be reinstated if he apologised and retracted his claim that the scale of anti-Semitism in Labour had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons.”

Echoing their comments, shadow Welsh secretary Nia Griffith told reporters: “I'm sure that there can be a way back if that's what he chooses."

Separately, John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, suggested that Mr Corbyn should issue a clarification to resolve the dispute, which he warned was at risk of “drifting towards a hell of a row.”

Speaking after the meeting with Mr McCluskey, one insider told The Daily Telegraph that Sir Keir had made “soothing noises”, with talks expected to continue into the weekend.

However, party sources insisted that any decision on Mr Corbyn’s case would be made independently of Sir Keir by Mr Evans and the head of the Labour’s governance and legal unit.

The shift in tone over the past 24 hours is likely to alarm anti-Semitism campaigners and party moderates, who hailed Mr Corbyn’s suspension as a watershed moment.

On Friday a former Labour MP who quit in protest over Mr Corbyn’s failure to deal with anti-Jewish racism urged the party to stand firm, adding that caving now would be seen as an “act of weakness.”

The Conservatives also sought to ratchet up pressure on Sir Keir further, with Michael Gove accusing him of failing to stand up to Mr Corbyn during his time in the shadow cabinet.

In a letter addressed to Sir Keir, Mr Gove urged him to set out why Mr Corbyn had not been expelled and whether his suspension prevented him from standing as a Labour candidate at the next election.

“Fundamentally, this is a question of leadership. It is easy to take a position on anti-Semitism in hindsight, but you seemingly found it much harder to find the moral character and backbone to do what was right at the time,” he added.

However, he also came under pressure from the Left of his party as the campaign group Momentum held a virtual rally demanding that Mr Corbyn be reinstated immediately.

Those attending the online event included Mr McDonnell as well as former frontbenchers Richard Burgon and Diane Abbott.

Speaking virtually, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the move was "profoundly wrong" and "must be reversed" .

He urged Labour members to remain in the party and said they had to acknowledge that anti-Semitism has "over time penetrated our party".

Mr McDonnell added: "My appeal is not the launch of some civil war or for members to leave the party or to set up another party.

"My appeal is for unity, for clarification that we are all on the same page when it comes to wanting to tackle anti-Semitism and the way that we do that is all of us, we stay in the party - this is our Labour Party.”

While Diane Abbott said it was "vital" that Jeremy Corbyn is reinstated to the party as she warned that his suspension would "not help us win the next election".

Local Labour branches across the country also continued to report a slew of resignations from members, while a poll by YouGov suggested that Sir Keir’s favourability among Labour voters had slumped by 13 points in a week.

Meanwhile, allies of Mr Corbyn, who has amassed a £350,000 war chest from supporters’ donations, claimed that he was now prepared to launch a legal action unless his suspension was lifted.

Signalling his desire to draw the controversy to a swift conclusion, Sir Keir on Friday morning appealed for unity and insisted there was “no reason for a civil war.”

While reiterating he had been “deeply disappointed” by Mr Corbyn’s statement, he repeatedly refused to say whether he believed him to be anti-Semitic.

Pressed a third time, he told BBC Breakfast: “I don’t see Jeremy Corbyn in that light.”

Asked if Mr Corbyn could be expelled, he said that others had been but added: “It’s not for me to say what process should be followed, that’s for the general secretary.”

Speaking afterwards, Mr McDonnell said: “Keir Starmer this morning has rightfully said he doesn’t want a civil war in the Labour Party.

“Let’s be clear: nobody does, but it seems we are drifting towards a hell of a row over use of language, misinterpretation, followed by overreaction. When I stood down as Shadow Chancellor I said I’d try being an “elder statesman.” Well here goes.

“My advice is that with a bit of explanation over what was meant in various statements we could all save ourselves a lot of unnecessary grief and get on with tackling Covid and job cuts.”

His comments were echoed by Jon Lansman, the co-founder of Momentum, who said: “We could do with more of this diplomacy from the Left just now, fewer war cries and a lot more concern for the victims of racism.”

Mr McCluskey, who only 24 hours beforehand accused Sir Keir of unleashing “chaos”, also appeared to soften his tone, telling reporters: “Now is the time for some calmness to see if we can resolve this.”

Their interventions were welcomed by senior party moderates, suggesting that a solution could soon be on the horizon.

One insider said Mr Corbyn now had the opportunity to respond to questions submitted to him in his disciplinary letter, which would enable him to either clarify or retract his remarks.

Mr Corbyn has already publicly claimed that he was not attempting to play down the severity of the problem but merely pointing out that the number of complaints against Labour members was lower than widely thought.

Allies are hopeful that the distinction will be enough to convince the party to take no further action.

However, several Labour sources suggested that Mr Corbyn would need to go further and both retract and apologise for his remarks.

They pointed out that Angela Rayner, Labour’s deputy leader, had on Thursday urged Mr Corbyn to retract his statement and apologise, and that his refusal to do so had ultimately triggered his suspension.