Latest editorial
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana discuss the formation of a new leftwing party
From left to right: La France Insoumise deputy leader Nathalie Oziol, Die Linke general secretary Janis Ehling, Workers' Party of Belgium general secretary Peter Mertens, British-Palestinian activist Leanne Mohamad, Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana
THE Tories and Labour’s grip on power must come to an end, people attending The World Transformed Festival 2025 in Manchester heard today.
A massive queue wrapped around the Niamos Radical Arts Centre in Manchester’s Moss Side in the afternoon as people waited eagerly to join a panel discussion with former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and independent MP Zarah Sultana focused on the formation of their new political party.
“For too long, our politics has been trapped in a cycle: the same two parties, the same tired promises, the same broken failures; a nightmare that keeps us stuck divided and ignored,” began prominent British-Palestinian activist Leanne Mohamad.
“The truth is that the two-party system has failed us all,” she said. “Everything that these two parties touch is corrupted. And that is why we have to break this duopoly and we will.”
Ms Sultana began a passionate speech by first addressing the new party’s rocky start. “Obviously, you’ve all seen what’s happened over the past few weeks,” she said. “But I’m here to tell you, the show is back on the road.”
Millions of people across the country are fed up, she said. “And so they should be. In fact, they should be fucking furious. Furious that life is getting harder and harder, while the cost-of-living soars and wages stagnate.”
Ms Sultana also addressed concerns that a new party could split the left vote. To that, she said: “The Labour Party did that when it dragged the party so far to the right that it dances to Nigel Farage’s tune, revives austerity and directly enables genocide in Gaza.”
Mr Corbyn called on supporters of the new party to pool their skills and experiences to help build the organisation before its founding conference in Liverpool next month.
“Take part in the building of something that is transformative of the politics in this country.
“I am fed up with the triopoly of political ideas: Labour, Conservative and the Liberal Democrats essentially have no difference in their ideas.
“We can do something better. We can be a voice and a power for peace in the world. It’s very exciting. Let’s go for it. Let’s win.”
