O'Brien on Liberal ‘soul-searching' amid nuclear and net-zero policy review
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The Guardian
38 minutes ago
- The Guardian
The time is right for Zarah Sultana's new party – but it's already facing its first test
An effective new leftwing party is one of the recurring dreams – or nightmares – of British politics. Many have tried and failed to create one that wins and then holds a significant number of seats in parliament. Labour, founded 125 years ago, has been the only successful example. Others have been defeated by the electoral system, the sheer number of interests ranged against the left, loyalty to Labour and the left's tendency to over-promise and quarrel. Could Zarah Sultana's sudden announcement last night that she 'will co-lead the founding of a new party' with Jeremy Corbyn and other 'independent MP's… and activists across the country' – a statement that he did not acknowledge until lunchtime today – finally begin to change the rigid shape of British left-of-centre politics? And would that help the left – or help destroy it? The 31-year-old MP for Coventry South, who had already been suspended from Labour last year for opposing its retention of the two-child benefit cap, is usually one of the most effective political communicators in the country. She has more followers on TikTok than any MP except Nigel Farage. Unlike him, she has an ability to talk with moral force and clarity: about Palestine, inequality, the rightward shift of Keir Starmer's government and other issues particularly important to Britain's large minority of leftwing voters, a neglected electoral bloc since Corbyn's Labour leadership ended in 2020. She has been the great hope of some on the left for years. As a young woman and a Muslim, she represents parts of the population where the left remains strong. As an MP for a seat in the Midlands, one of the few Labour MPs to increase their majority at the last election, she has succeeded, so far, in the kind of place where the left needs to do better, away from its metropolitan heartlands. In 2022, after only three years in parliament, and with Starmer struggling as Labour leader, as he is now, she was already being spoken of by some on the left of the party as his potential challenger. That won't happen now, as she has resigned from Labour. But the prospect of her building a new party with Corbyn has considerable potential. As his comfortable victory over Labour as an independent candidate at last year's election showed, the 76-year-old MP for Islington North remains a much better electoral politician than many of his enemies think. His decades of experience, connections right across the left and continuing moral authority for millions of Britons – especially as his criticisms of Starmer and Israel are ever more borne out by events – could dovetail well with Sultana's more youthful and abrasive brand of politics. And with Labour in crisis, leftwing ideas such as nationalisation back in fashion, and the electorate more fragmented and fickle than it has probably ever been, conditions for a new leftwing party are unusually favourable. Yet difficulties remain. One is that the Green party is already absorbing some of the left's talent and energy, especially with the leftwinger Zack Polanski standing for its leadership. Another is deciding exactly what form a new leftwing party should take. Should it stand in local and parliamentary elections as soon as possible – or should it build an activist movement first, establishing its credibility in communities? And should it try to mobilise across the country – or should it concentrate its almost certainly limited resources on a few winnable seats? Leftists have been debating and pondering these questions for months, which is one reason why the new party, discussed at private and public gatherings since at least last autumn, has yet to assume a definite shape. Today, Corbyn finally said that he was 'delighted' that Sultana 'will help us build a real alternative. The democratic foundations of a new kind of political party will soon take shape. Discussions are ongoing…'. As for who should lead it, he did not say. An unhurried politician by nature, he has spent much of the year since the election working with the other four leftwing independent MP's to create and solidify the Independent Alliance, which has as many representatives in the Commons as Reform UK. Yet one of the lessons of our unstable politics over the past decade is that things can happen slowly and then very fast. Now that Sultana has made her move, having reportedly considered her options for months, she and Corbyn may quickly get over any tactical differences, as leftwing activists are drawn to their project and the scale of its opportunity dawns. For Labour, in the middle of its worst week in office so far, the new party could be a serious threat. Even if it only wins a few seats, or none, it could split the left-of-centre vote across the country. Reform could be the ultimate beneficiaries of Starmer's carelessly contemptuous treatment of the left. But there is another possibility. If the next election leaves a hung parliament, which looks increasingly likely, a new leftwing party with, say, a dozen MPs, could hold the balance of power. Coalition talks between Corbyn, Sultana and their old party would be interesting. Andy Beckett is a Guardian columnist Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Ex-deputy PM Therese Coffey claims civil servants advised her to break the law
Former deputy prime minister Baroness Therese Coffey has claimed she was advised by civil servants to knowingly break the law. Lady Coffey, who also held several other cabinet positions, including work and pensions secretary, health secretary and environment secretary, became a Conservative peer earlier this year. She told the House of Lords on Friday: 'There were several occasions when I was advised by civil servants to knowingly break the law. 'Now, they may have only been minor infringements, but I challenge about how is that possible under the Civil Service Code that, in your advice and in your inaction, you are advising me to knowingly break the law? And I wasn't prepared to do it.' Lady Coffey went on to recall another situation when she felt the Civil Service Code was not adhered to. She said: 'I learned that my shadow secretary of state had written to me on Twitter, and I knew it because he also published my response to him on Twitter. 'I'd never seen the letter from the shadow secretary of state. I had never seen the letter written in my name, but there it was: my response and my signature. 'And these sorts of things, unfortunately, in the Civil Service Code should be more serious than it was.' The Tory peer added: 'Sometimes people try and suggest it's just politicians trying to do this, that and the other. 'I'm not accusing the Civil Service, but their job is to try and manage and, ultimately, I could go on about another legal case where I was named as the defendant. 'I didn't know until a ruling had come against me, formally. 'These things, I'm afraid, do happen.' Her comments came as peers debated a report from the Constitution Select Committee entitled Executive Oversight And Responsibility For The UK Constitution. Lady Coffey was deputy prime minister in the Liz Truss government in September and October of 2022. After her brief premiership, Ms Truss took swipes at the Civil Service and blamed the so-called deep state for 'sabotaging' her. Speaking at a conference in the US in 2024, the former prime minister said: 'I wanted to cut taxes, reduce the administrative state, take back control as people talked about in the Brexit referendum. 'What I did face was a huge establishment backlash and a lot of it actually came from the state itself.' Ms Truss added: 'Now people are joining the Civil Service who are essentially activists. 'They might be trans activists, they might be environmental extremists, but they are now having a voice within the Civil Service in a way I don't think was true 30 or 40 years ago.'
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Nearly 40 percent of Americans say they would back Musk's third party if he creates one, poll finds
Around 40 percent of Americans say they would back Elon Musk if he created a third political party to challenge the Republicans and the Democrats, a new poll has found. According to the survey, conducted by Quantus Insights, 14 percent of voters said they would be "very likely" to support or vote for a political body launched by the Tesla boss, while 26 percent said they would be "somewhat likely." Another 38 percent said they were not likely to support Musk, while 22 percent replied that they were 'unsure.' It comes after the world's richest man claimed he would launch 'the America Party' in response to Donald Trump 's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill,' which he described as 'insane.' A disagreement over the bill between the two men led to an explosive online fallout last month. Lawmakers voted to pass the bill Thursday and it is set to be signed by the president on Friday. "Our country needs an alternative to the Democrat-Republican uniparty so that the people actually have a VOICE,' Musk wrote in a string of X posts Monday. 'Great day for some … fireworks,' he wrote on Friday, adding two fire emojis. Quantus Insights' poll was conducted between June 30-July 2 among 1,000 registered voters, with a 3 percent margin of error. The pollster highlighted that, though 40 percent of respondents were in favor of Musk's hypothetical third party, the result was unsurprising. In 2023, a Gallup poll found that 63 percent of Americans supported an alternative third political party. The survey also revealed clear divides across party lines and demographics, with male Republicans appearing to be the most interested in a party launched by Musk. Some 23 percent of Republican men said they are "very likely" and 34 percent say "somewhat likely" to back the America Party, and over half (57 percent) expressed openness to Musk as a political brand. Nearly half (47 percent) of independent men said they were likely to support the America Party. Quantus noted that 'skepticism remains high among older and Democratic voters but the signal is clear: a large slice of the electorate is open to something new, something disruptive.' 'This is not about Musk. It's about the growing sense that the existing order is failing to represent the country as it truly is, or wants to be,' the pollster said.
