Corbyn forms new party together with former Labourite Zarah Sultana

Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader of Britain’s Labour Party, announced on Thursday that he is forming a new political party with ex-Labour Parliament member Zarah Sultana.

In a statement posted to X, Corbyn said that the country’s problems are not caused by migrants and refugees, but an “economic system that protects the interests of corporations and billionaires.”

Corbyn is a self-identified Socialist.

The temporary name of the party is “YourParty.” It’s meant to “kick-start the democratic founding process of a party that belongs to the people,” a source close to Corbyn told Sky News. The official name is still to be decided.

In early July, Corbyn revealed he was in talks to form a political party as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government had “refused to deliver the change” voters expected.

“The democratic foundation of a new kind of political party will take shape soon,” Corbyn wrote on X. “Discussions are ongoing—and I am excited to work alongside all communities to fight for the future people deserve.”

As leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020, Corbyn, 76, was widely condemned by U.K. Jewish groups, Jewish members of the Labour Party and others for his long record of extreme anti-Israel and anti-Jewish bias and for allowing such views to proliferate within the party.

Corbyn resigned as Labour leader after the 2019 election when it suffered its worst defeat since 1935. Starmer, Labour’s current leader, announced in 2020 that Corbyn would not be permitted to run again as a Labour candidate amid persistent allegations that Corbyn was antisemitic.

Corbyn was elected as an independent member of the British Parliament last year.

British lawmaker Zarah Sultana, a far-left chair of the Socialist Campaign Group who served as a Labour MP until July 2024, has also made anti-Israel statements, accusing the Labour government of being complicit in genocide for selling arms to Israel.

She introduced the Arms Trade (Inquiry and Suspension) Bill, which she said in an X post would “suspend all arms sales to Israel & hold the government accountable for its role in enabling such horrors.”

As recently as June 24, Sultana declared, “We are all Palestine Action” while sharing an emoji of a PLO flag on X.

Palestine Action, a U.K.-based anti-Israel group, engages in violent activity, targeting defense and engineering firms, banks, property companies, accountancy firms, universities and other institutions it claims have links to Israeli defense companies.

British lawmakers voted on July 2 to designate Palestine Action a terrorist organization after its followers vandalized two aircraft at a Royal Air Force base on June 20.

The Terrorism Act 2000 makes it a criminal offense to belong to a proscribed group, with a penalty of up to 14 years in prison or a fine. Wearing clothing or displaying items supporting such a group could result in six months in prison and/or a fine of up to £5,000 (about $6,700).

It is not clear if the laws will be enforced against Sultana.

Corbyn has also come out in support of Palestine Action, calling the use of the Terrorism Act against it an “outrageous clampdown on civil disobedience” and “an assault on the democratic rights of us all.”