‘The reality is and everybody knows it, a division in the anti-Conservative, anti-right-wing vote can only assist the parties of the right.’
Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has said that any new political party set up by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana would only serve to benefit Nigel Farage, as he warned against a splintering of the left.
On Thursday evening, former-Labour MP Sultana announced plans to set up a new left-wing political party alongside Corbyn, as she accused the Labour Party of having ‘failed to improve people’s lives’.
It appears that Corbyn was blindsided by Sultana’s announcement at the time, as the former Labour leader issued a non-committal statement and said: “The democratic foundations of a new kind of political party will soon take shape. Discussions are ongoing – and I am excited to work alongside all communities to fight for the future people deserve.”
The Sunday Times also reported that Corbyn’s team had urged Sultana to row back on the announcement.
Lord Kinnock, who led the Labour Party between 1983 to 1992, was asked by Trevor Phillips on Sky News how serious a threat he thought a Corbyn led party to the left of Labour would be.
Kinnock told Sky News: “I understand they’re having a bit of a difficulty over thinking up a name, in a comradely way I’d suggest one, it would be the ‘Farage Assistance Group’, because the reality is and everybody knows it, a division in the anti-Conservative, anti-right-wing vote can only assist the parties of the right.”
He continued: “The splintering offered by a new party, of the left as they say, and I’ve got my doubts about that, can only be of assistance to the enemies of Labour and the working-class…and can only be of benefit to the egos of those who are running such a party.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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