Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of Britain's Labour Party, said on Friday he would stand as an independent candidate at the upcoming national election on July 4, Reuters reported.
"I want our political parties to be democratic, but members of Islington North Labour have been denied the right to choose a candidate," Corbyn said in a video announcing his plan.
"So we have to stand up. We have to stand up and say, we're not taking this anymore. We will assert our rights. That's why I'm standing to be an independent candidate for the people of Islington North," he added.
Asked about Corbyn, Labour leader Keir Starmer told reporters at a later campaign rally, "I think Jeremy Corbyn's days of commenting on what the Labour Party is doing are over."
Corbyn was Labour leader at the last election in 2019, in which Labour recorded its worst performance, in terms of seats, since 1935.
Labour officials have not included the 74-year-old in a shortlist for candidates for the seat, prompting his decision to go it alone as an independent.
During his time as Labour leader, Corbyn infamously stirred up controversy by calling Hamas and Hezbollah his "friends". He initially refused to apologize for those comments but later walked them back.
British Jews also voiced deep concern over his disturbing links to a wide range of extremists, spanning far-right Holocaust deniers, an antisemitic Christian minister and Islamist terrorist groups.
Corbyn was suspended from Labour following the publication of a report compiled by the Equality and Human Rights Commission which 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.
In November of 2022, Corbyn was permanently banned from running as a candidate for the Labour party.
Days after Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, Corbyn appeared at an anti-Israel protest in London, during which he accused Israel of committing “war crimes” in the Gaza Strip.
A month later, Corbyn refused to call Hamas a “terrorist group” during an interview with journalist Piers Morgan.
Morgan asked Corbyn no less than 15 times whether he thinks Hamas is a terror group, with the former Labour leader avoiding the question each time.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)