Jeremy Corbyn forms ‘Independent Alliance’ group of five pro-Gaza MPs

This is the beginnings, maybe more than a beginning, of an Islamic Party in Parliament. From various newspapers.

Jeremy Corbyn is among five independent MPs to have formed an Independent Alliance group opposing inequality and war.

The former Labour leader joined four other independents elected in July forming the group, which is the fifth biggest block in parliament.

The other members are Shockat Adam, who defeated Labour frontbencher Jonathan Ashworth in Leicester South, as well as Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed, who all also stood on pro-Gaza tickets.

The group said its aim is to boost the opportunity for the independent MPs to ask questions and hold the government to account. In a joint statement, the MPs said: “We were elected by our constituents to provide hope in a parliament of despair. . . Millions of people are crying out for a real alternative to austerity, inequality and war – and their voices deserve to be heard. . . Our door is always open to other MPs who believe in a more equal and peaceful world.”

Mr Corbyn was expelled from the Labour Party despite being its former leader and held his Islington North seat as an independent at the general election. The other MPs were elected largely due to anger at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on the war in Gaza, which has seen Muslim and left-wing voters turn against the party.

The Independent Alliance will make up the fifth biggest parliamentary grouping, holding the same amount of power as Reform UK and the DUP, with more MPs than the Green Party on four.

The Independent Alliance is also calling for Labour to reverse a decision to make the winter fuel payment, worth up to £300 for pensioners, means-tested. Like a stopped clock which is right twice a day….

It still hasn’t been sufficiently understood how profoundly disturbing a development this is for our democracy – although in her campaign launch today, Kemi Badenoch showed that she grasps its importance, attacking what she rightly described as “malign and destructive identity politics”. She went on: “When everyone was talking about the five new MPs from Reform, I was far more worried about the five new MPs elected on the back of sectarian Islamist politics; alien ideas that have no place here. The sort of politics we need to defeat and defeat quickly.”

Mrs Badenoch is right to focus on this. But it’s not the Tories who are – at least for now – in the firing line from the Muslim identity politics represented by the Independent Alliance. Their target is Labour. And a look at the 2024 results shows how vulnerable the party is to such a threat.

There are four million Muslims in England and Wales (6.5 per cent of the population). Until now, they have never acted as a bloc or split from the mainstream towards candidates who campaign directly to other Muslims, stirring up forces of division. In July Labour lost four seats to Muslim independents, with many more almost falling, including those of Cabinet ministers Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood. The party’s vote actually fell by at least 14 per cent in constituencies with a Muslim population of more than 15 per cent.

The Independent Alliance, now a formal group within the Commons, can focus on widening the divide between Muslim voters and the Labour party. . . But the real impact of this won’t be in terms of the Independent Alliance winning more seats, but rather how this voter bloc will sway the decision making of politicians with razor-thin majorities.

A pre-election poll showed that one in four British Muslims cited the Israel/Palestine conflict as their most important issue, compared to just 3 per cent of the public. Almost half said Jews have too much power over UK government policy. These attitudes are moving into the political mainstream with the rise of this newly cohesive Muslim bloc vote. The Labour MPs with significant Muslim populations in their constituencies will find excuses to push the same agenda as previously promoted by individual members of the Independent Alliance, such as putting a definition of “Islamophobia” on the statute books and Ofcom banning so-called Islamophobia from being broadcast.