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Corbyn promises ‘there will be a new left party’, as he opposes Labour-Tory repression on behalf of Israel

Independently-minded left-wingers just opposed the Labour-Tory establishment’s ban on Palestine Action. And this vote highlighted yet again how desperately Britain needs a united left-wing movement to challenge corporate domination in parliament. With this in mind, journalist Robert Peston pressed Jeremy Corbyn on the efforts to establish an alternative.

Corbyn: the new left party is coming

Peston pointed out, a week after a promising poll, that “if you did launch a party, you might do rather well”. And he asked Corbyn if he’s “going to create one”. Speaking about the “alternative of a left independent party, of a socialist view”, Corbyn answered:

There’s a lot of people all around the country in different independent groups: look in Birmingham; look in Liverpool; look in Southport; and so on. There is a thirst for an alternative view to be put. I’m working with all of those people. That grouping will come together. There will be an alternative view. And there will be an alternative put there which is about a society that deals with poverty, inequality, and a foreign policy that’s based on peace rather than war.

Refusing to answer who would lead such a party, in the absence of a hypothetical members’ vote, he simply insisted:

I’m here to serve the people in the way I’ve always tried to do.

As the Canary has reported, Corbyn has been travelling around the country, supporting efforts to build the resistance via community empowerment. And he has suggested that “in a short time”, something will be “in place” (definitely before “next year’s local elections”). Corbyn ally and former Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, meanwhile, added to this recently by promising an alternative will form “in a very short period of time”.

We urgently need to challenge the shameful status quo in parliament

Six left-wing independents voted against the government’s plan to ban Palestine Action’s non-violent disruption of Israel’s economy of genocide. In addition to two tellers (one independent, one Labour), the four Green MPs also opposed the government, as did nine Labour rebels and an SDLP representative.

Speaking to Peston, Corbyn slammed the government’s ongoing support for Israel, saying:

If you supply weapons to somebody that is accused of acts of genocide, as the Israeli government is, then you yourself become complicit in those acts as well.

In parliament, meanwhile, Labour rebel Diana Abbott highlighted the UN’s opposition to Britain’s crackdown on non-violent protest. And independent MP Zarah Sultana said:

this will go down as a dark day in our country’s history and one that will be remembered. People will ask ‘which side were you on?’ And I stand with the millions of people that oppose genocide

These people are the moral leadership in parliament right now. But they are unfortunately in the minority. Because as historian and journalist Mark Curtis has stressed, it’s very clear that:

UK foreign and domestic policy-making has been substantially captured by the interests of a foreign power.

To combat this, we urgently need a united mass movement on the left that fights for human dignity both at home and abroad.

War criminals – and the powerful corporations that have backed and enabled them – must face the consequences of their actions.

Featured image via screengrab

By Ed Sykes

This post was originally published on Canary.