JEREMY Corbyn has addressed the split in his nascent political party after a public split with its co-founder Zarah Sultana.
The former Labour leader acknowledged “there have been hiccups” in his first public comments after a major online spat with his colleague – who described his faction as a “sexist boys’ club” and threatened to sue for defamation.
He and the four other Independent Alliance MPs, who are also involved in the process of setting up a new left-wing political party, said that Sultana had set up an "unauthorised" platform for registering membership and taking donations.
Sultana has since said she would not sue Corbyn and said she wished to “reconcile” with the opposing faction, though maintained she had been the victim of “baseless and unsubstantiated allegations”.
Speaking at a press conference to promote the Against the War peace conference in Paris in October, Corbyn insisted that the founding of Your Party was “going very well”.
Sultana (above) had been due to speak at the event but organisers said she had pulled out at the last minute.
Asked about the frustration and disappointment of supporters throughout the UK, Corbyn said “Yes, there’s been some hiccups. Yes, there’s been some social media storms. But you know what? People get too obsessed with that.
“The reality is, hundreds of thousands of people have signed because they want something different. They want a different party and they want it to be working properly.”
Acknowledging that there are “different views on how the party should develop” and its “structure”, Corbyn added: “That’s absolutely fine but the determination about the basic principles of a party for social justice, for peace, for environmental sustainability and absolutely the polar opposite of everything Nigel Farage and Reform stand for.
“And so what I’m getting is also massive numbers of messages saying: ‘When’s the conference? Get on with it, I want to go out campaigning and I want candidates and I want to see you in the local elections.’”
On accusations of sexism in the running of Your Party, Corbyn said that the make-up of the MP group – five men with Sultana the sole woman – was circumstantial based on the timing of their election to public office.
He added: "I can’t do anything about that."
Corbyn said there was a “very large volunteer group” of people who were working behind-the-scenes on the practical elements of setting up the new party and said this group was “diverse”, spread around the UK and had “roughly speaking” a 50-50 gender split.
Asked about whether the debate around trans rights and what defines a woman, Corbyn said: “All of us agree that trans rights are human rights and trans people should be treated with respect and inclusivity.”
The trans rights debate has been the source of some controversy within Your Party, with Sultana perceived as being at odds with Independent Alliance MP Adnan Hussain.
Hussain has previously stated that trans women are “not biologically women” and suggested that there should be a third option for trans people in the context of single sex spaces for men and women.
In what was seen as a thinly-veiled response to Hussain’s (below) comments on Twitter/X, Sultana posted just a few hours later: “The same forces targeting migrants and Muslims are attacking LGBTQ+ people, especially trans people. Our safety is in solidarity. None of us are free until all of us are free.
“That’s the new party we’re building. Bigotry has no place in it.”
Speaking at the press conference in London on Tuesday, Corbyn said that Your Party was “bringing hundreds of thousands of people together”, adding: “Within those hundreds of 1000s, will there be diversity of views? Yet? How could there not be amongst well over half a million people? And that has to be worked out.”
In reference to potential conflicts among the group of MPs, Corbyn said: “If there is a difference of opinion on something, then we respect each other’s opinion and offer no collective position of it, and I think that is an adult and sensible way to go.”
Corbyn added: “I love social media and I hate it at the same time. You all love it and you all watch it all the time but you also hate it.”
Asked why, he replied: “Because it brings out instant comment and often the worst possible instincts in people, whereas the more cerebral approach is thinking about something and talking about it first.”
Sultana was approached for comment.
