UK Labour leader says 'door is open' for those who do not like change

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - UK's Labour party leader said Wednesday that his party 'has changed,' calling on members who are not in favor of that change to leave the party.

Speaking at a news conference in London, Keir Starmer said that his party has changed and will not be going back.

"We have changed from a party that looked inward to a party that meets the public gaze, from a party of dogma to a party of patriotism, from a party of protest to a party of public service," he said.

He said that change is not easy and some people will not like it but Labor will never again be "brought to its knees by racism or bigotry."

"If you don't like that, if you don't like the changes that we've made, I say the door is open and you can leave."

Starmer said that former party leader Jeremy Corbyn will not stand as a Labour candidate in the next general election.

"When I became leader, I said I would turn Labour around and give it back to the British people. And the most important and urgent part of that was in tearing out anti-Semitism by its roots," he said.

Starmer also stated that this is also "a moment to apologize" once again for all those who were hurt, vowed that there will be zero tolerance of anti-Semitism or racism, or any kind of discrimination under his leadership.

His comments came as the UK’s human rights watchdog Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) confirmed they were satisfied with the changes Labour had made "to stop unlawful acts of harassment and discrimination" since Starmer took office in 2020.

Following initial complaints from Campaign Against anti-Semitism and further complaints from the Jewish Labour Movement, the EHRC launched its investigation into Labor in May 2019.