United Kingdom lawmaker Jeremy Corbyn has announced he is launching a new political party to run to the left of the Labour party that he previously led.
On Thursday, Corbyn and Member of Parliament Zarah Sultana, who both became independents after leaving Labour, announced the new party, which did not yet have an officially registered name but was temporarily dubbed “Your Party” on its website.
In a joint statement, they said it was “time for a new kind of political party” focused on righting social injustices and combating a “rigged” system.
“The system is rigged when the government says there is no money for the poor, but billions for war,” the statement said, envisioning a party “rooted in our communities, trade unions and social movements”.
It further laid out broad policy objectives, including “mass redistribution of wealth and power” and a commitment to a “free and independent Palestine”.
It’s time for a new kind of political party – one that belongs to you.
Sign up at https://t.co/0bhBHhWvVa. pic.twitter.com/UwjHBf4nZQ
The statement called on supporters to sign up to “be part of the founding process”, adding that an inaugural conference would be held to determine the party’s structure of leadership, direction and policies.
While the timeline of the party’s launch was not immediately clear, the announcement comes when Labour leader Keir Starmer has been haemorrhaging support after his party ended nearly two decades of Conservative rule in last year’s July general election.
Starmer has faced particular criticism for failing to unify his party behind signature legislation seeking to pare down the country’s welfare spending. In the end, Starmer passed a softened version of the bill, later suspending a handful of the Labour rebels who led opposition to the proposed cuts.
Starmer has also faced pressure to more firmly reset ties with Israel amid its war on Gaza and to recognise a Palestinian state.
The 76-year-old Corbyn, who took control of the opposition Labour party in 2015, had stepped down as leader after a trouncing by the Conservatives in the 2019 general election.
The Labour party under Starmer then suspended Corbyn in 2020 after he refused to fully accept the findings of a probe into claims that anti-Semitism had become rampant within Labour’s ranks under his leadership.
Corbyn maintained that anti-Semitism had been “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.
The avowed socialist, who was one of the most left-wing Labour party leaders in decades, ran as an independent in last year’s general election, winning his Islington North seat handily.
Sultana, meanwhile, has been a member of parliament for six years, and had been a member of Labour’s young, left-leaning flank.
She was also suspended from the party in 2024, after she broke from the party in her opposition to a cap on benefits for parents with more than two children.
In a post on X on Thursday, Sultana addressed the naming of the new party, which has generated some confusion.
Source: Aljazeera
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