0:00
This is just pure madness and, you know, unfathomable in its ridiculousness and farcical nature
0:07
which is that Zahra Zoltana, the Coventry South MP, purported to launch a new party last week
0:15
or purported to launch the founding of a new party last week with her co-leader, as she characterised it, Jeremy Corbyn
0:23
I, hot on the heels of that, announced that there was a small issue
0:27
Jeremy Corbyn had not consented to be co-leader Not ideal Not ideal
0:34
And in actual fact, behind the scenes had been imploring Sultana to remove her post
0:40
which immediately exploded online and went viral So Corbyn is... When this goes up, Sultana's saying
0:48
that she's going to be leading this new party with Corbyn and almost immediately, Corbyn is urging her privately
0:53
to remove the post So he didn't agree to it at all and I probably, I'm not sure where we exist in relation to second-hand car salesmen
1:03
but nobody has any great sympathy for journalists. I'm not soliciting it in this instance, but I've got plenty of flack online from people saying this was nonsense
1:10
and, you know, an attempt by the fourth estate to defame Jeremy Corbyn
1:14
But this morning I published a load of WhatsApps which only deepened the evidence confirmed what I reported which is that Corbyn was implacably opposed to this venture from the outset and he and his comrades have been seething on the sidelines
1:29
ever since Sultana broke ranks to announce this venture. And why are they so opposed, do you think
1:38
So I think that, you know, clearly, you know, the serious dimension of this is obviously
1:41
there's plenty of kind of groundswell of opposition to the government stance of Israel
1:45
you know the sort of general centre or rightward shift of Starmer's political project there's
1:51
clearly an appetite within the country for a party that can appeal to people with socialist
1:56
convictions and and indeed the Muslim community which for the Palestine issue has felt even more
2:02
neglected by mainstream politics in recent years and the question is well what does that look like
2:07
and you know you've got plenty of tendencies and individuals and there's lots of conversation
2:12
going around different bits of the left, there's not yet been any consensus as to what it actually should look like
2:17
Should it be led by Jeremy Corbyn? Should it be co-led by Corbyn and a younger socialist
2:21
Should it be led by nobody? Should it even be a formal party or should it be a movement or a foundation
2:25
or an alliance of independents? There are all these questions about the permutations and combinations
2:30
But the long and short of it was that on Thursday night, there was a Zoom call among some leading cadres on the left
2:36
who basically, you know, have been having fairly regular conversations in recent months
2:40
but on this occasion, Andrew Feinstein, a South African socialist who ran against Keir Starman home in St Pancras he tabled a proposal saying let cut to the chase Time done for talking Let put Jeremy and Zahra Sultana on a joint ticket
2:58
and they will run this new party. And Corbyn was on this call
3:02
So were many of his former staff and allies. They were blindsided by this proposal
3:07
They said, well, you know, Jeremy doesn't believe in co-leadership models, but moreover we had no idea that this was the sort of conversation you were hoping to have we
3:16
thought this would just be another iteration of the dialogue we've been having for some time so
3:20
they boycotted the vote thereby enabling Feinstein and his confederates to vote through the idea of
3:27
this new party to be led by Sultana and the man Corbyn who boycotted the exercise altogether and
3:33
less than half an hour I was told this earlier less than half an hour after that discussion
3:37
Sultana had announced the founding of a new party and a new chapter in British politics
3:43
was born, or was it? That's the question. Maybe half a paragraph of British politics was born
3:49
I mean, Gabriel, where do you think it leaves the whole thing? Corbyn then spent 24 hours not saying anything
3:53
to the public externally. Then he put out a statement where he didn't actually say
3:59
that he was going to be involved in it, although he sort of applauded the initiative. Where has it left the entire thing
4:04
I guess the simple answer is I don know and nor does anybody else and I think that reform we talked about earlier is an example of the party which has managed to unite the right or a bit of the right I mean obviously that fragmented between the Tories and reform
4:21
but there's a sentiment that it represents, and it has cohered a lot of sympathy and a lot of
4:27
different constituencies within a country behind its one banner. You know, if the left wants to
4:31
make inroads in the next election, it cannot allow socialist votes to be fragmented between the Greens
4:36
and independents and, you know, left Labour people, or at least its interest would be served
4:42
by there being some sort of formal collaboration or organisation. And nobody's giving up on that
4:47
And Corbyn no doubt will be present in whatever does emerge from this time
4:52
but it has all been born in these most bizarre circumstances. And as ever, the sort of left is very given to splittism
5:00
and this venture of two people had split, not even, I mean, literally
5:04
the very act of it coming into being led to a split and a subsequent purge where Corbyn's
5:11
former chief of staff was kicking disloyal comrades out of their, you know, key WhatsApp group. And
5:18
it's basically descended into total madness. And on this occasion, the left, which, you know
5:24
from time to time, you know, may have a point, you know, faces, you know, Corbyn faced some
5:31
forthright opposition from within Parliament during his leadership. But on this occasion, it really
5:35
is their fault. And it's going to be interesting to see what happens next
