Zarah Sultata boycotts Your Party conference hours after Jeremy Corbyn called for unity
Zarah Sultana boycotted the first day of Your Party’s conference, just hours after her co-chair Jeremy Corbyn promised the pair were united.
Ms Sultana said she would not enter the main conference center in Liverpool on Saturday in protest against the “witch hunt”.
It is understood one of his supporters, Kingston councilor James Giles, was refused entry to the conference centre, while other members were kicked out of the conference center on Friday for allegedly being members of the Socialist Workers Party.
A spokesman for Ms Sultana said: “Zarah met with members outside the conference and condemned the recent expulsions.
“This witch hunt is untenable. We must build a party that embraces all socialists,” he added. “He won’t be entering the conference room today.”
This came just hours after Mr Corbyn confirmed the infighting in your Party was over, telling members: “We had a series of events in Liverpool last night and Zarah (Sultana) spoke at a wonderful rally and I very happily and proudly sent a message of support and solidarity to that rally – and I’m grateful it was read at that rally.”
“I was at a poetry and music event at Black E and Zarah posted to it.
“We need to come together and be united as a party because division and division will not serve the interests of the people we want to represent. So we are building the party on that basis now.”
The new commitment to unity came shortly after Mr Corbyn refused to call Ms Sultana a friend when asked during an interview. Sky News. Instead, he said the pair were “colleagues in parliament and we communicate openly etc.” he said.
Two MPs who helped establish the union have also since resigned; Last week Iqbal Mohammed said in a statement that he had decided to leave your Party and continue to serve the Dewsbury and Batley constituency as an independent MP.
Earlier this month, MP Adnan Hussain said he was withdrawing from the party’s “steering process”, citing concerns about factionalism and “implicit bias” against Muslims.
Ms Sultana had previously complained that she was being subjected to a “sexist boys’ club” after supporters were invited to officially become members of the party and provide financial support to it. But Mr Corbyn described the move as an “unauthorised email” and warned members not to sign up via the link in a statement published on social media just hours later.
Mr Corbyn had used your Party’s so-called newfound unity to criticize Labour’s structure and bureaucracy.
He said: “I’m tired of top-down parties. I’ve spent a lifetime in the Labor Party, mostly fighting the Labor bureaucracy. I don’t want to repeat that in your Party. I don’t want to repeat that experience.”
He took the opportunity to encourage members to “campaign forever more” for “real socialism”.
Concluding his opening speech at the party’s founding conference, the former Labor leader said: “We are in Liverpool with a huge responsibility on our shoulders to get this started this weekend, get branches up and running, launch campaigns and run for elections in the future.
“This is our opportunity and our time.
“We will grab it with both hands, we will build that party, we will build that society and we will campaign forever for real socialism and real social justice.”
This is breaking news, more to come…
