Keir Starmer
Keir StarmerReuters

British Labour leader Keir Starmer on Tuesday responded to the reinstatement of former party leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying on Twitter it was "another painful day for the Jewish community and those Labour members who have fought so hard to tackle anti-Semitism".

"I will not allow a focus on one individual to prevent us from doing the vital work of tackling anti-Semitism," he added.

Corbyn was reinstated to Labour earlier on Tuesday after appearing to apologize for belittling a report detailing the prevalence of anti-Semitism within the party under his leadership, Sky News reported.

Corbyn was suspended last month following the publication of the report, which was compiled by the Equality and Human Rights Commission and found numerous cases where the party leadership under Corbyn underplayed, belittled or ignored complaints by Jewish members, and sometimes actively interfered to support political allies.

The former Labour leader had faced ongoing accusations of anti-Semitism, both over his history of hostility towards Israel and support for anti-Israel terrorist groups, as well as the rise in anti-Jewish rhetoric within the party.

Dozens of Labour members have been suspended over their anti-Semitic statements in recent years, while the party has been criticized for its failure to deal with the anti-Semitism within it.

In the British parliamentary election last December, Labour recorded its worst performance, in terms of seats, since 1935.

Starmer, who became party leader in April after Corbyn stepped down, apologized shortly after being elected for how the Labour Party has handled anti-Semitism within its ranks and committed to making change.

He later committed to setting up an independent complaints process for anti-Semitism in the party, saying it is “very important to me to seek to address the disgrace of anti-Semitism in our party as soon as possible.”