6 days ago
Corbyn targets Streeting's seat with new hard-Left party
Jeremy Corbyn held an event in Wes Streeting's constituency hours after announcing that he would help to create a new Left-wing party.
The former Labour leader, now an independent MP, spoke in Ilford North alongside Leanne Mohamad, the pro-Palestiniancandidate who came within 528 votes of defeating the Health Secretary at last summer's general election.
Mr Streeting will face an uphill battle to keep his seat if the backlash over Labour's stance on the Israel-Gaza war continues.
He is one of the most prominent MPs in Labour's moderate wing, and widely tipped to run for the party leadership when Sir Keir Starmer's tenure comes to an end.
At the event, Mr Corbyn singled out the Starmer Government's record on tackling child poverty and failure to be more critical of Israel over its military campaign in Gaza, according to one source present.
His appearance at the event at the City Gates Conference Centre, attended by around 300 people, took place at 6.30pm on Friday – five hours after he issued his statement about setting up a new party.
The event, called Breaking the Two-Party Nightmare, had been planned before the public statement and was held to mark a year since the election.
Mr Corbyn was joined on stage by Andrew Feinstein, the pro-Palestinian candidate who stood against Sir Keir in Holborn and St Pancras.
One person present said of his speech: 'He talked about the failures of the Labour Government, particularly on child poverty, and critiquing arms to Israel and the Government's position on Palestine.'
Mr Corbyn is also understood to have repeated comments made on ITV last week, where he said he and fellow pro-Gaza independents would 'come together' and 'there will be an alternative'.
There was also fund-raising to help those campaigning against Labour. Two pots of Mr Corbyn's home-made jam raised £1,500.
After the event, the former Labour leader shared footage of the gathering on the X social media platform in a post along with the words 'real change is coming'.
Last week, it emerged that former Labour MPs on the Left were planning to launch a new political party.
Zarah Sultana, suspended from Labour for voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap, said on Thursday that she and Mr Corbyn 'will co-lead the founding of a new party'.
Mr Corbyn released his own statement on Friday, saying that 'a new kind of political party will soon take shape' but not stating Ms Sultana would be co-leader.
It is still not known what the party would be called or what policies it will adopt, but it is widely expected that it will position itself considerably to the Left of where Sir Keir has taken Labour and be pro-Palestinian.
Both issues could cause problems for Labour, which has attempted to balance its support for a two-state solution and condemnation of the lack of aid for Palestinians during the conflict in Gaza with supporting Israel's right to defend itself.
Critics have warned that the new movement could help Nigel Farage's Reform UK, currently topping opinion polls, by splitting the Left-wing vote. Lord Kinnock, the former Labour leader, on Sunday called it the 'Farage Assistance Group'.
Mr Corbyn enjoyed vast popularity with Labour members in 2015, when he surprised Westminster by claiming the leadership, and 2016, when he saw off a challenge from Owen Smith after the country had voted for Brexit.
Labour's defeat in the 2019 election was followed the next year by his suspension from the party, after Sir Keir became leader, over his response to the Equalities and Human Rights Commission's report on how it had handled complaints about anti-Semitism.
Mr Corbyn never regained the Labour whip, meaning he stood as an independent candidate at the last general election. He was re-elected in Islington North, the London seat he has represented since 1983.
