Jeremy Corbyn has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “primary school stuff” after the Labour leader denied he was a “friend”. Sir Keir earlier this month repeatedly insisted he never considered his predecessor as a “friend”, despite previously using the term to describe him.
Speaking on LBC tonight, the former Labour leader said he “never regarded” Sir Keir as a “friend”, but dismissed the row as childish.
Mr Corbyn said: “It makes me sad, actually. I don’t know why he says that.
“I mean, I worked with Starmer. He was in the shadow cabinet. I went to Brussels with him. Yeah, I worked with him, I worked with lots of people.”
Pressed on if he sees Sir Keir as a “friend”, Mr Corbyn said: “I regarded him as a colleague. I never regarded him as a friend.
“I didn’t spend time hanging out with him. A friend is somebody you go out for a meal with, have a chat, call their house.
“So, why he suddenly announced to the world that I was a friend and then a short time later, it is now, I was not a friend. This is primary school stuff.”
Mr Corbyn’s comments come after Sir Keir repeatedly denied he ever viewed Mr Corbyn as a “friend” during a phone-in on LBC despite presenter Nick Ferrari pointing out he used the term to describe him in 2020.
The Labour leader, who has sought to distance himself from his predecessor, said: “I worked with him as a colleague but as I say haven’t spoken to Jeremy now for two and a half years.”
It comes as Sir Keir has blocked his predecessor from standing as a Labour candidate in the London seat he has represented since 1983 at the next general election.
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