Jeremy Corbyn has attended a meeting to establish a new left party called ‘Collective’. A number of other figures from the left attended, including former Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, film director Ken Loach, former ANC MP who stood against Keir Starmer as an independent Andrew Feinstein, former North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscol and Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman.
Corbyn gave the opening speech, but at this early stage his attendance was not an official endorsement with a source telling the Guardian that he wanted to “listen to and share a variety of views about the way forward for the left”.
Sources told the Canary that they were unaware the Guardian would be reporting on the Collective meeting – and were unsure how the media outlet found out.
Organisers said they would begin drawing up democratic structures to secure a membership base and attempt to get trade union affiliation. A briefing outlined their strategy on this.
Representatives from We Deserve Better, a campaign group that backed left-wing candidates from different parties in the election, also attended the meeting, as well as people from small left wing parties and independent local groups.
“Feeling politically homeless”
One organiser said:
There will be a new left party that will contest the next election and hopefully be a meaningful counterweight to Reform and the rightwing drift of the Labour party
Director of Corbyn’s Peace and Justice project Pamela Fitzpatrick will be the movement’s director. She said:
We have seen the rise of the far right and already people are feeling politically homeless because they were so desperate for change but support for Labour is dropping so quickly. We need a real movement that can fill that gap
Contesting Harrow West in the election as an independent, Fitzpatrick came third.
But Keir Starmer’s foundations are not solid. A YouGov poll conducted a week before election day found 48% of Labour voters were doing so simply to get the Tories out. Meanwhile only around 20% of eligible voters opted for Labour, but first past the post still delivered Starmer a landslide.
As well as Reform winning five seats, independent MPs including Corbyn won five. The Greens won four, making it the most successful election for smaller parties and independents since WWII.
Another source involved said:
Lots of people have been involved in independent campaigns in the last election that did surprisingly well, even if they didn’t win. This was the beginning of a potential mass movement of the working class outside of the Labour party
One example is Leanne Mohamad. Although Palestinian British independent candidate Mohamad didn’t win, she came about 500 votes from unseating Labour’s health secretary Wes Streeting.
And since coming to power, Labour’s support has plummeted, according to polling from More in Common. The party is now on just 29%, with the Tories on 25%. That’s 11 points down since polling at the time of the election.
Starmer will “open the door to Farage” for prime minister
One Senior figure involved in the movement pointed out the stakes are high:
I think that there is a real concern that if we, if the left, doesn’t do this now, and if we don’t act now, then the Starmer government is just going to open the door to Farage as the next prime minister.
Indeed, during the election, Starmer pulled the campaign of the Labour candidate in Nigel Farage’s constituency of Clacton, helping Farage win the seat. Like we see in France, ‘centrists’ will hand the keys to the far right rather than compromise with the left.
Starmer purged Corbyn and a number of left-wingers from standing as Labour candidates in the election. Since then, he has continued his authoritarian approach, removing the whip from left-wing backbenchers for voting with their conscience. With the new Collective movement forming, could Starmer’s hostile environment for progressives in Labour backfire?
Featured image via Guardian News – YouTube
