Zarah Sultana and Jeremy Corbyn have reconciled “like the Gallagher brothers” and the show is “back on the road”, a packed Your Party event has heard.
Speaking at The World Transformed (TWT) Conference in Manchester – the birthplace of Oasis – Ms Sultana said if the band’s quarrelling brothers can get back together they can too.
It comes after a nasty public row over Your Party’s paid membership system threatened to upend the new venture before it began.
Ms Sultana, speaking at a rally in Liverpool last night, said she was “truly sorry” for her part in the fiasco and told supporters gathered in its neighbouring city on Friday: “You have all seen what’s happened in the last few weeks, I am here to tell you the show is back on the road.
“I know that I’m in Manchester so I have to reference Liam and Noel Gallagher. If they can do it, of course me and Jeremy can.”
Ms Sultana, an LFC fan, went onto quip that the only difference between her and Mr Corbyn is that he “thinks Arsenal are still going to win the Premier League, and we know that they will always come second place with a second-place trophy”.
On Thursday night her apology struck a more serious tone as she said: “Many of you have felt frustrated about the launch process… it was regrettable and for my part I am truly sorry”.
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The row erupted last month after Ms Sultana unilaterally launched a membership portal which Mr Corbyn claimed was unauthorised. She then said she had been “sidelined by a sexist boys club” – referring to the alliance of independent MPs who support Your Party, and that she was consulting defamation lawyers.
She later dropped that threat in order to pursue reconciliation – but the past 48 hours is the first time that has been put on public display.
The charm offensive started with the rally in Liverpool’s St George’s Hall, with about 800 people in attendance, followed by a panel event at the left-wing TWT festival – which used to be affiliated with Labour but has broken ties over the direction of the party under Sir Keir Starmer.
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Asked if she still thinks there is sexism at the top of Your Party Ms Sultana told Sky News: “As women we know there are misogynistic aspects of all society. It’s important we address that, we are addressing that, and we are moving forward.”
Corbyn did not address the row over the two events but previously said the new party had faced some “fraught days” and “we haven’t covered ourselves in glory”.
One supporter told Sky News they were feeling more confident in Your Party following the show of unity.
Mira said: “I’ve been really let down and depressed with what went down over the last few weeks and I am feeling hopeful again that they are putting aside all the nonsense and showing this is about something much bigger than them, a big working class party.
“There were no snide comments or individual posturing, it was real shared lines, it doesn’t matter if they don’t personally like each other, I just wanted to see them coming out and saying we are working together, we respect each other.”
What next for Your Party?
With the hatchet buried – at least for now – the party must next hash out a set of policies and processes for fielding candidates so it can be ready to fight the local elections in May.
Local branches are in the process of being set up across the country by volunteers, with next steps expected to be formally agreed at the founding conference at the end of November.
Mr Corbyn said he would like to see the branches hold at least one public event a month to discuss local campaigns and stay “1,000% relevant all the time”.
While members will have a say on policy, the co-leaders also gave some indications of their red lines.
Withdrawal from NATO
Ms Sultana said Your Party would be “anti-imperialist” and withdraw from NATO – which goes further than Mr Corbyn’s 2019 Labour manifesto.
Mr Corbyn has always been personally critical of NATO, but as Labour leader the party’s position was to stay in the alliance.
The duo both expressed strong support for trans rights, saying “trans rights are human rights”.
One MP in the independent alliance which supports Your Party, Adnan Hussain, faced a backlash on social media last month when he said women’s rights and safe spaces “should not be encroached upon” and “safe third spaces should be an alternative option”. He added that trans women are “not biologically women, hence trans women”.
Mr Hussain insisted it was an issue prospective members had been asking the party about, but it put him at odds with what the co-leaders have previously said, raising questions as to what the party’s official position would be.
Ms Sultana and Mr Corbyn were adamant that this is a socialist progressive party, saying they would stand for “peace, justice, economic equality and opposing racism”.
‘Labour split the left not us’
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Another question the party faces is whether it could fragment the left vote and allow Reform UK to win, given the rise of the Greens under Zack Polanski and independent MPs.
Ms Sultana today said it today that if that happened, it was the fault of Labour for moving “so far to the right while dancing to Nigel Farage’s tune”.
She drew dividing lines with Your Party and the Greens on the question of whether they should form an alliance, saying the Greens are “not explicitly socialist, they say NATO has a role to play”.
Mr Corbyn said there were some things he didn’t agree on with Mr Polanski but under the First Past the Post system, alliances were necessary.
“There may be points where sometimes we don’t agree with the Greens,” he said. “So we have our identity, we have our principles, and we have our position, but we’re anxious to make progress in our society, and that will mean working with a lot of different people – nothing wrong in that.”
But Mr Polanski, for his part, suggested he would rather see the Your Party co-leaders join him than work together, telling Sky News during his party conference last week: “My door is always open to Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. I’d love them to be Green Party members…my relentless focus is on growing the Green Party.”
