Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn said: “The great dividers want you to think that the problems in our society are caused by migrants or refugees. They’re not. They are caused by an economic system that protects the interests of corporations and billionaires.” Da New Statesman
It’s happening. Three weeks ago Zarah Sultana publicly quit the Labour Party, announcing her involvement in a new party with Jeremy Corbyn (in a move that some insiders described as “jumping the gun”).
Now, Corbyn has caught up. A statement on X, co-signed by both MPs, heralded the arrival of a “new kind of political party” and asked readers to sign up to a website ambiguously named “Your Party”, leading to an “inaugural conference” at which the exact direction of this nameless new party will be decided.
In the statement, Corbyn and Sultana describe the UK’s political system as “rigged”. They point to key flashpoints on the left: child poverty, economic inequality, privatisation and, most significantly, Gaza. Expect this new party to diverge from Keir Starmer’s Labour on many of these issues.The past three weeks have been fraught. On Tuesday, it was rumoured Sultana herself would not be involved as a co-leader. There were moments when it seemed as though the left’s perennial factionalism might kill this movement before it had even begun. But the electoral opportunity this moment presents was too enticing (as polling by More in Common for the New Statesman revealed, a Corbyn-led party could win 10 per cent of the vote).
