https://arab.news/5u26t
- 5 independents, including ex-Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, in talks to form parliamentary bloc
- New group would equal Reform UK, outnumber Greens; have made contact with 7 suspended Labour MPs
London: A group of independent MPs elected to Parliament in the UK for their stances on Gaza are set to formally team up.
The five MPs, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, were elected on July 4 on separate platforms, but are now in talks to create an official bloc that would see them match Reform UK and outnumber the Green Party.
Corbyn, who had the whip removed as a Labour MP in 2020, a year after leading the party to a defeat at the 2019 general election, said: “I was elected by my constituents to speak out against the genocide in Gaza, against child poverty and against the demonisation of migrants and refugees.
“I am proud to work alongside my fellow independent colleagues to make sure our constituents’ voices are heard.
“This country is demanding real change — and the more MPs who are prepared to stand up for international law, defend refugees and oppose the far-right, the better. We are a movement for peace and justice, and we are not going away.”
Shockat Adam, who defeated senior Labour figure Jonathan Ashworth in a shock result in Leicester South, told The House magazine that the group is keeping “all options are open” for cooperation.
Adam said: “I had never met any of these individuals before. Like myself, I don’t think they’d heard of me, and I don’t know all of them either. So, we’re just getting to know each other.
“We have commonalities, especially on our foreign policies, et cetera, but we’re just navigating where we are politically on lots of things. We are working together on issues that we have common ground on.”
He told the BBC that the five are “looking at options that would give us more access to the levers of power.”
In addition to looking to work with each other, they have also looked elsewhere for support, writing to a separate group of seven MPs who recently had the whip withdrawn for voting to scrap a cap on child benefits in the UK.
The group of five independents said they “look forward to working closely” with the suspended Labour MPs.
However, it is unlikely that there will be a coalition between the two groups, with the suspended seven all expected to remain Labour MPs when their suspensions are lifted.