The apparent imminent implosion of the Your Party – before it has even officially become a party, yet with approaching a million supporters – is the worst example of destructive factionalism since the Labour right deliberately sabotaged Labour in 2017 and 2019 and sentenced hundreds of thousands to death in the pandemic, and millions to grinding poverty, under the Tories.
Your Party: a day of uncertainty
An email was sent out from Your Party to supporters informing them how to subscribe as members, which was then as quickly disowned by those close to Jeremy Corbyn and painted, initially, as the result of ‘hacking’ – while at the same time being endorsed as genuine by Zarah Sultana and others.
A letter in the name of Corbyn and other independent MPs – but not including Sultana – was then sent out stating that the email was ‘unauthorised’ – and again trying to put the brakes on a process that has already been glacial:
In response, Sultana put out her own statement acknowledging that Corbyn had not authorised the membership email, but appearing to declare war by stating that she had been “sidelined” and “frozen out” by a “sexist boys club” and naming Karie Murphy, Corbyn’s chief of staff, as an issue:
Sultana’s statement also called on Corbyn to meet face to face.
The situation has allowed the working class’s enemies in the ‘mainstream’ media to make hay and exult over the implosion. This is an unforgivable situation.
Unforgivable
The grassroots are looking at this – the best word is ‘shitshow’ – and wondering who the hell is allowing ego and the desire for control to sabotage this country’s best hope of getting out of the fascism it has been dragged into by Keir Starmer and the blue Tories that preceded him. They will not forgive whoever is seen to have destroyed the party that is supposed to represent a mass movement – nor for that matter anyone seen not to have done enough to prevent it.
Corbyn and Zarah must meet in person and they must do it right the hell now. And they must do it without hangers-on, face to face, just them. This has to be about the movement and the class war that is being waged against millions, not about interests, egos or identity.
Corbyn has been criticised in the past for a lack of ruthlessness, not always fairly – but both ‘co-founders’ must be ruthless now, with themselves and with anyone in their team who has helped create this situation, no matter how hard that is.
Corbyn is the movement’s figurehead and without Sultana the movement would still be waiting for Your Party to exist even on paper – but both Corbyn and Sultana risk destroying their legacies through this nonsense. To avoid it requires action and the removal of anyone letting ego or control-freakery knock the wheels off.
Now.
Featured image via the Canary
