Inside Corbyn’s new ‘sh**present’ celebration: Palestine extremism, ‘she/they’ pronouns, brutal infighting… and singing Imagine
Jeremy Corbyn‘s new socialist party just about survived its inaugural conference at intact, despite being branded a ‘sh**show’ after a weekend of infighting, Palestinian extremism and bad singing.
The gathering of the hard Left in Liverpool followed months of chaos, factionalism and bad vibes, and it did not disappoint as a sequel to the disarray.
The first day of the founding conference was marred by a dispute over the expulsion of a number of members said to also belong to the Socialist Workers Party.
Ms Sultana boycotted that first day in protest at what she described as a ‘witch hunt’ against her supporters.
When she did attend on Sunday she reignited tensions with an attack on unnamed figures ‘at the top’ of the new party, before engaging in hardline support for Palestinians in Gaza.
In a speech that went down well with delegates, she demanded that Your Party be an ‘anti-Zionist’ movement and led a chant of ‘from the river to the sea’ that is regarded by many as an anti-Semitic call for Israel‘s elimination.
Mr Corbyn was also berated at the event for being too soft on Israel by people who were accused of being from a ‘revolutionary communist group’.
The conference also saw a call from a delegate called Joseph, who said they used ‘she/they’ pronouns, and attacked the decision to block alleged Socialist Workers Party members from attending.
The event closed last night with a singer belting out a cheesy rendition of the John Lennon’s peace anthem, Imagine, as party members shuffled out of the auditorium.
Mr Corbyn is to be blocked, at least initially, from lading the party he is running on an interim basis.
Ms Sultana boycotted the first day of the conference in protest at what she described as a ‘witch hunt’ against her supporters.
To add to the chaos, Mr Corbyn is to be blocked, at least initially, from lading the party he is running on an interim basis.
Members voted narrowly against having a single elected leader, opting instead for a collective model favoured by Ms Sultana that puts a committee of members in charge.
The model, supported by 51.6 per cent of the more than 9,000 members who voted on the proposals, will see the party led by a committee of party members that MPs will be barred from standing for.
Ms Sultana said she had ‘fought for maximum member democracy since day one’ and described the decision as ‘exciting’.
She left Labour in July vowing to co-lead the new party alongside Mr Corbyn, but this idea was blocked from consideration by members.
She said: ‘Together, we’re building a new socialist party – radically democratic and powered by a mass movement.
‘This party will be led by its members, not MPs.’
She reignited tensions on Sunday with an attack on unnamed figures ‘at the top’ of the new party.
Describing the expulsion of members as ‘unacceptable’ and ‘an attack on members and this movement’, she said: ‘These actions come straight out of the Labour right’s handbook, the same playbook we have all lived through for years – the witch hunts, the smears, the intimidation, the bullying, the legal threats and the leaks to the Murdoch press.
‘Let me be absolutely clear, the members will not stand for this, the movement will not stand for this and I will not stand for this.’
James Giles, a councillor from Kingston, south-west London, who was one of those barred from entering, told BBC Radio 4’s today programme today that the part had had ‘a bit of a bumpy road’.
He said he had been excluded ‘on completely spurious grounds’, adding: ‘I think it is fair to say there has been a bit of factionalism going on.’
Mr Corbyn acknowledged there had been ‘frustrations’ in the establishment of the outfit but said ‘we have come a long way’ as he closed the gathering in Liverpool on Sunday.
In his closing speech, Mr Corbyn thanked volunteers who helped put the party’s conference together, adding: ‘It wasn’t easy.
‘There were a lot of struggles on the way, getting a venue, getting the papers written, and all the rest of it.
‘I understand all the frustrations about the statements, the rules, the constitution and the drafts and so on.
‘As I said earlier, and Zara said in her speech, there is no handbook on how to set up a political party but we have come a long way and learnt a lot along the way.’
The conference also saw a call from a delegate called Joseph, who said they used ‘she/they’ pronouns, who also attacked the decision to block alleged Socialist Workers Party members from attending.
A party spokesperson said the leadership vote ‘shows that we really are doing politics differently: from the bottom up, not the top down’.
They also said: ‘Our permanent name reflects what our party and our conference is all about: a radically democratic movement seeking a radical transfer of wealth and power from the few to the many. This weekend was a festival of democracy, breaking with the Westminster mould of top-down politics.’
Ms Sultana also labelled Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor a ‘parasite’ and called for the abolition of the monarchy, adding: ‘We shouldn’t just abolish Andrew’s titles. We should abolish the monarchy itself.’
She also confirmed she will be running for a position within the committee of ‘ordinary members’ that will lead the party, suggesting there could still be a contest between her and Mr Corbyn when the ballot opens in January.
And after a row erupted over expulsions of members of the Socialist Worker’s Party from the conference in Liverpool, members also voted to allow dual membership of Your Party and other Trotskyist groups in a move likely to prompt further chaos.
Meanwhile voting showed that Your Party’s entire ‘verified’ membership is just 21,035, with less than 9,000 people voting on the leadership model. This is nowhere near the 50,000 figure claimed by Mr Corbyn and far below the 800,000 people the party boasted of having registered their interest.
