Jeremy Corbyn, former head of Britain’s Labour Party, has announced the formation of a new political party alongside former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, JNS reported.
In a statement Thursday, Corbyn claimed the UK’s challenges stem not from immigration but from “an economic system that protects the interests of corporations and billionaires.” The group, temporarily named “YourParty,” aims to establish what he described as a “democratic foundation” for a grassroots political movement. Its final name has not been determined.
Corbyn, 76, who served as Labour leader from 2015 to 2020, resigned following Labour’s worst electoral defeat since 1935.
Corbyn is notorious for his anti-Israel stance. 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. He ran as an independent in the most recent election.
His political ally Zarah Sultana, who left Labour earlier this month, has been similarly outspoken. A chair of the Socialist Campaign Group, Sultana has repeatedly accused the UK government of complicity in what she called “genocide” for supplying arms to Israel.
She introduced a bill to suspend all arms sales to the Jewish state and has openly aligned herself with Palestine Action, a UK-based group involved in violent anti-Israel activities and which was recently blacklisted as a terrorist organization in the UK.
Despite the new classification, both Corbyn and Sultana have voiced support for Palestine Action, according to JNS. Corbyn condemned the move as “an outrageous clampdown on civil disobedience” and “an assault on the democratic rights of us all.”