Latest news with #Gaza-focused
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Labour focused on appeasing Reform, not beating them, says Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn has accused the Labour government of 'appeasing' Reform UK by 'scapegoating' migrants and minorities for its own domestic policy failures, saying his new leftwing political party would take on Nigel Farage instead. The veteran leftwing MP, who confirmed last week he was launching a new, as yet unnamed, movement with former Labour MP Zarah Sultana, said British politics was at a 'critical juncture' with the rise of rightwing populism. He said he saw their role as providing hope, not fear. And he accused the Labour party, which he led between 2015 and 2020, of 'paving the path' for Reform's electoral success, by failing to take on a 'rigged economic system' and blaming immigrants for the problems in society. In less than a week, more than 500,000 people have signed up to the new movement which is explicitly aimed at left-leaning voters who have backed Labour, the Greens or the collection of Gaza-focused independents who saw off Labour candidates in four constituencies in last year's election. Polling before the party launched suggested it could gather as much as 10% of the vote nationally. However, new parties usually struggle to maintain momentum, and turning polls into votes relies on building an effective campaign machine, which is difficult to do from scratch. Writing for the Guardian, Corbyn said there was a 'huge appetite' for a reset of the 'broken' political system, under which the traditional two-party domination has broken down. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'Up and down the country, there is huge appetite for an economic reset. One that brings water, energy, rail and mail into public ownership. One that invests in welfare, not warfare. One that makes the wealthiest in society pay a bit more in tax to ensure that everyone can live in dignity,' he said. 'This is the political vision that can inspire hope, not fear. The great dividers want you to think that migrants and minorities are responsible for the problems in our society. They're not. 'Those problems are caused by a rigged economic system that protects the interests of billionaires and corporations. By scapegoating migrants and minorities for its own domestic failures, Labour has paved the path for Reform UK. 'This Labour government is here to appease Reform. We are here to defeat Reform. We are at a critical juncture, and we need an alternative, now.' The former Labour leader added: 'Politics should be about empowerment. Instead, people are shut out of the decisions that affect their daily lives. For too long, top-down political parties have patronised their members and disempowered the communities they claim to represent.'
The Guardian
24-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
No fear or favours: how Corbyn and Sultana's party could blow up British politics
New political parties have a patchy record in British politics. Take Change UK, which launched amid much fanfare in the spring of 2019 and had disbanded by the end of the same year. So can Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana fare any better? In part it depends on the question you ask. The new and as-yet unnamed leftwing party formally announced by Corbyn and his fellow ex-Labour MP on Thursday, has one major advantage at its disposal: the former Labour leader's very strong public profile. According to a rolling YouGov poll of politicians' name recognition, Corbyn is known by 98% of voters, more than Keir Starmer or Nigel Farage. 'Everyone knows who Jeremy Corbyn is, everyone knows who he stands for. And with any new party, that is not even half the battle. It's three-quarters of the battle,' said Robert Ford, a professor of political science at Manchester University. 'A lot of people don't like what he stands for, but that doesn't matter, because he's not aiming for everyone.' That is the second likely advantage for the organisation, launched under the interim title of 'Your Party'. Unlike Change UK, a collection of centrist MPs who defected from Labour and the Conservatives, or indeed unlike Corbyn's task when he led Labour, there is no need to temper opinions to court the middle ground. Co-led by Corbyn and Sultana, the party is explicitly aiming itself at left-leaning voters who until now are likely to have backed Labour, the Greens or the collection of Gaza-focused independents who saw off Labour candidates in four constituencies in last year's election. 'With the best will in the world, not even Zarah Sultana, I suspect, is expecting Jeremy Corbyn to be the next prime minister,' Ford said. 'That's not the purpose of it. The purpose of it is to offer an outlet for those who think Labour have driven too far to the right. So he doesn't have the same problem that he and his advisers had a few years ago.' Polling before the party launched suggested it could gather as much as 10% of the vote nationally. However, new parties traditionally struggle to maintain momentum, and turning polls into votes relies on building an effective campaign machine, which is tricky to do from scratch. All this could make for a complex picture at a constituency level, with Ford noting that it could variously make electoral life harder or easier for Labour MPs, depending on the location and context. For example, even a 5% haul for a Corbyn-Sultana candidate could mean the difference between Labour win or a loss to the Conservatives or Reform UK. The new venture could also scupper the Greens in their hopes of taking seats from Labour in the 40 areas where they finished second in 2024, given its likely appeal to some Green voters. The Greens have dismissed the opening statement from the new party for making 'only a passing glance to the climate crisis', saying this left them stuck in the past, and it is possible that Corbyn's main electoral hunting ground will be voters sympathetic to the Gaza-focused independents. The only Labour response has been a brief and scathing party source quote about the electorate having 'twice given its verdict on a Jeremy Corbyn-led party', in the 2017 and 2019 elections. But the new party is different in its aims, and, politically, 2025 is not 2019. An ostensibly new party, Reform UK, is leading the polls, even if it is Nigel Farage's third incarnation of Ukip, which can trace its history back more than 30 years. And voter loyalties, which were once relatively fixed, are more fluid than ever. One thing, however, is constant: the identity of the co-protagonist. Corbyn has a name, but also political baggage, and a reputation for occasional prickliness and falling out with people. The launch of the new party has been slightly stumbling, with allies of Corbyn making plain their annoyance when Sultana announced herself as co-leader of a new group in June. It is also unusual to launch a new party without having agreed on a name. Can Corbyn and Sultana confound the historical odds? To an extent it doesn't entirely matter. In the currently fragmented multiparty world, even moderate success could have a disproportionate impact.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hamas says new Gaza truce talks under way as Israel expands ground assault
Israel and Hamas have confirmed a new round of Gaza truce talks is under way in Qatar as the Israeli military expanded its ground offensive on the besieged Palestinian territory, despite growing international calls for a ceasefire. Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement on Saturday that the Hamas delegation in Doha returned to negotiations 'on a hostage deal'. Israel had entered the talks without any conditions, according to Katz. Taher al-Nono, the media adviser for the Hamas leadership, confirmed to the Reuters news agency that a new round of indirect talks had begun without any conditions. 'The Hamas delegation outlined the position of the group and the necessity to end the war, swap prisoners, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and allowing humanitarian aid and all the needs of the people of Gaza back into the Strip,' he added. Medical sources told Al Jazeera that at least 54 Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes on Saturday, as Israel launched a new offensive in Gaza. Israel's army said on social media that it was intensifying attacks and exerting 'tremendous pressure' on Hamas across Gaza, and wouldn't stop until the captives are returned and the armed group is dismantled. Katz said that Operation Gideon Chariots was being led with 'great force.' The ground offensive comes after Israel escalated its air attacks on Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians in the past three days. Many of the victims were killed in northern Gaza, including in Beit Lahiya and Jabalia, which have received forced displacement orders by the Israeli army in recent days. As leaders of the Arab League held a Gaza-focused summit in Iraq's Baghdad and called for international funding to rebuild Gaza on Saturday, Hamas urged the international community to impose sanctions on Israel. In a statement on its Telegram channel, the armed group described the situation in Gaza as a 'full-blown genocide committed before the eyes of a world that stands helpless, while more than two and a half million people are being slaughtered in the besieged Strip'. The group also reported continued fighting with invading Israeli forces, claiming on Saturday that its fighters killed and wounded two Israeli soldiers using machineguns in the Shujayea neighbourhood of Gaza City in the northern part of the enclave. United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said he was 'alarmed' by Israel's new ground operations in Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire. UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said a joint plan by the United States and Israel to replace international aid mechanisms in Gaza was a 'waste of time' as more than 160,000 pallets of aid are 'ready to move' at the border, but blocked by Israel.
