To end the shambles, power must pass from MPs to members
By Socialist Alternative reporters
Last Friday (14 November), Independent Alliance (IA) MP Adnan Hussain quit Your Party. This followed another scandalous debacle at the top of the project, when five IA MPs issued a statement smearing Zarah Sultana just before her successful appearance on BBC Question Time. Within hours of posting his resignation, two other IA MPs, Ayoub Khan and Iqbal Mohamed, made statements either expressing solidarity with Hussain, or echoing his criticisms of YP.
Crisis rooted in MP ‘stewardship’
Given that he had just put his name to a damaging public and unfounded attack on a party colleague, it beggars belief that Hussain cited “infighting” as his reason for stepping away from YP. Infighting has indeed been prolific and destructive. But the question is: why has infighting among a small group of MPs and staffers been allowed to inflict so much damage on the project?
One insight into the answer to this question was provided by Iqbal Mohamed in his statement on Sunday 16 November. In it, he confirmed accounts already in the public domain, which explain exactly how the IA MPs came to be the sole ‘stewards’ of YP.
Essentially, we are told, a previously constituted “Organising Committee” was closed down and replaced by the MPs’ stewardship, at Jeremy Corbyn’s insistence. This followed disagreements over YP’s leadership model (i.e whether or not the project’s founding would be co-led by Jeremy and Zarah, or led solely by Jeremy).
To say that this is a decision which has not aged well would be an understatement. While the nature of the Organising Committee in question was also problematic (being essentially self-appointed) it was, at least, a broader group which was much more representative of the party’s fledgling base. MPs were joined by several local leading figures, trade unionists, anti-war campaigners and others.
Once Your Party was launched, it would have been quite straightforward to replace this committee with an interim steering committee elected by members, tasked with organising the launch conference. This is exactly what Socialist Alternative and others, including the Platform for Democracy, argued for.
To instead dissolve this committee and place power in the hands of a group of MPs – four of whom are not drawn from a labour movement or socialist political background – was inevitably going to cause problems. The political contradictions within the group rapidly began to be exposed and exacerbated. The unrepresentative nature of it (with five older male MPs to one younger woman), was also problematic.
It is now increasingly clear that, despite his own views aligning much more closely with Zarah Sultana’s, Jeremy Corbyn formed a bloc with the four other independent MPs against her. This resulted in Zarah being effectively cut out of decision making.
It seems likely that Corbyn did this partly in response to his own annoyance following the public statement Zarah made announcing that she would co-lead the founding of the party – or perhaps as a result of similar feelings among his close advisors. Zarah had obviously understood herself to be empowered to make the announcement as a result of the Organising Committee’s vote on the question, a fact confirmed by Iqbal Mohamed’s account. Indeed, no sooner had the launch of the party been announced by Zarah, than hostile media briefing had begun against her.
Corbyn’s weakness
Corbyn has been treated appallingly by the capitalist establishment and media over many years, which will have no doubt engendered a certain ‘siege mentality’ both in him as an individual and in his top team. It can also be understandable to react unhappily on a personal level to decisions being made with which you do not agree. But all this makes it especially important to build collective, accountable leadership, in which the personal weaknesses of individuals can be at least partially evened out.
The historic opportunity that the founding of a new left party represents is paramount, after all, not anyone’s ego. It was always the case that the eventual leadership of YP would be decided by the members – not any organising group or steering committee. To put secondary matters like personal position ahead of primary political questions – around which there seems to still be a lot of agreement between Corbyn and Sultana – is a terrible political mistake in a situation as high-stakes as this.
The subsequent chain of crises at the top of YP, which has put the very future of the project at risk, can be traced back to the choice to formally put all decision making in the hands of the Independent Alliance group and to Corbyn’s decision to form a de facto bloc with its most conservative elements against Zarah Sultana. It is this unprincipled bloc, between Corbyn and the four other Independents, which appears to be falling apart this week.
Bureaucratic approach
Such mistakes are not, at bottom, the result of this or that personal weakness. They stem from a flawed approach to politics. This was the same approach which saw Corbyn fail to mobilise the hundreds of thousands of working-class and young people who flocked to his leadership of the Labour Party between 2015 and 2019 into an active force that could defeat the Labour right for good. Instead, an approach of back-room manoeuvres and constant concessions to the relentless onslaught of the capitalist establishment paved the way for Corbynism’s defeat.
These are the failed bureaucratic methods of the reformist left in Britain and internationally. They prefer parliamentary manoeuvres over mobilising the working class every time. This is ultimately rooted in a lack of faith in the ability of the working class to fundamentally change society, instead limiting themselves to working within the structures of the capitalist system.
Political differences
The real reason for Adnan Hussain’s resignation, and the disquiet among the other IA MPs, is that they are deeply uncomfortable with the political direction of Your Party. This has nothing whatsoever to do simply with being Muslims, as Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed have claimed. In fact, implied allegations of Islamophobia against socialists within Your Party do not stand up to much scrutiny given the fact that YP’s most prominent advocate of socialist policies is herself a Muslim woman.
Novara Media reported that there was disquiet among the IA MPs over the fact that YP’s draft political statement defined the party as a “class based party… aiming to build socialism from below”. Indeed, Hussain has made it clear in public that his political vision is one of “restrained capitalism”, not socialist change.
There have also been clear differences among the group on the question of trans liberation, with transphobic comments being made in public by Hussain. The fact that several of the IA MPs are private landlords – which undermines the credibility of a force seeking to organise the working class for the right to housing – was also a source of public controversy.
These political issues, and others, are the real heart of the crisis in the Independent Alliance. It has become very clear that the views of the active base of Your Party are much closer to the socialist politics of Zarah Sultana in particular (which are largely shared by Corbyn), than those of the four other IA MPs.
While it would be wrong to welcome the weakening of YP’s parliamentary strength, or demand an artificial rigid uniformity of opinion at any level, it is also the case that an effective and democratic party should be based on meaningful political agreement. What’s more, elected representatives should be bound to act in line with the party’s agreed policies. In this context, it is understandable that MPs who neither support key YP policies nor consider themselves socialists may choose to distance themselves from the party.
Power must pass from MPs to members
The apparent disintegration of the Independent Alliance as stewards of YP makes the draft proposals submitted to the launch conference, whereby the IA would formally remain in charge of the party for several more months, completely untenable.
Plans for the democratic election of a new leadership (at least on an interim basis) must be brought forward urgently, as Zarah Sultana has demanded. There should be no reserved seats for MPs on the party’s executive. All candidates for public office should be nominated by local branches, with mandatory reselection for all sitting MPs and councillors. Local branches should also have the right to recall representatives who do not act in the party’s interests or abide by its democratically agreed policies.
Local branches must be officially launched without delay, building on the work of thousands of committed activists who have already been busy building more than 150 fledgling branches across England, Wales and Scotland. Socialist Alternative – revolutionary socialists organised in Your Party – is fully involved in these efforts, and in fighting to win support for democratic demands and a socialist programme at the upcoming launch conference. If you agree, get in touch today about joining our struggle.
