At the Your Party assembly in Glasgow
The fight is on over the vision for Your Party. Adnan Hussain, one of the Independent Alliance MPs and Your Party nominating officer, caused another outrage this week.
He compared fascists organising against refugees being housed in hotels and anti-fascists mobilising against them.
Hussain said, “The average Brit—black, white or brown, just wants to live peacefully. The vast majority of Brits do not want Nazis crusading through our streets, nor equally absurd ‘counter-demonstrators’.”
His right wing remarks have caused outrage among those who bravely organise opposition to the far right.
It’s part of a wider rows over what Your Party looks like. Does it say, “Blame the rich, not migrants”, and “Refugees welcome”, or does it duck the issue?
Will it stand up for trans+ rights or push transphobic talking points as Hussain has? Is it radical, insurgent force that builds working class struggles and social movements on the streets and picket lines as well as winning elections?
It underlines the need for socialists to take part in the Your Party regional assemblies and the conference at the end of this month.
The Independent Alliance MPs, apart from Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, do not have a broader set of socialist or class politics.
A very different vision of Your Party was on show in Glasgow last week. Over 400 people joined the rally last Friday night in the wake of Scottish Green councillors and members defecting.
Dan Hutchinson is one of the three Glasgow councillors who joined Your Party after a decade in the Greens. He said, “I think that on paper the Greens might look like a socialist party but it’s the people that deliver the words that aren’t.
“The Greens are excellent at talking the talk, but the MSPs are absolutely abysmal at walking the walk.
“You’ve seen Green MSPs defend landlords, these grubby wee leaches pushing the rents of housing into the sky. You’ve seen Green MSPs sell off £2 billion of public land to private landowners.”
He said the Greens are a “middle class party through and through” where “solidarity comes second” unless it’s likely to lead to electoral success.
Dan added, “That’s why I’m excited about Your Party. We don’t agree on everything—we can’t and we shouldn’t. But what we do agree on is that the political establishment, that only serves the rich and the powerful, must end.”
Zarah Sultana said, “Millions of people are angry and so they should be—in fact, they should be fucking furious.
“Scotland needs a real alternative, a socialist alternative, one that is democratic, grassroots, and uncompromising.
“I want to make this clear from the outset—I support the Scottish people to hold a referendum.”
Sultana added, “What we’re fighting for in Your party, it’s called socialism. We are fighting for the fundamental transformation of our society to replace capitalism, where workers control the means of production.”
Over 100 people attended a Your Party regional assembly in Colchester last Saturday.
The event brought people together to discuss the party’s draft founding documents ahead of the conference next month. The numbers were not quite what organisers had hoped to attract.
This is surely a reflection of the divisions at the top of Your Party in recent weeks. Nevertheless, there was good discussion on a wide range of issues.
For example, some argued for more detail and explicit reference in the political statement on issues such refugees, Palestine and trans+ rights.
Others argued that the political statement as it stood was too long and should be shorter and more general.
They argued that these issues should be agreed at the founding conference.
There was a feeling of inclusivity to all sections of the left. One speaker stressed that anyone or any organisation who supported Your Party candidates and principles should be welcome in the new party. There was no explicit disagreement.
Paul McGarr
Around 300 people attended the north London regional assembly of Your Party last Saturday. The day began with debate and discussion around the party’s proposed constitution and standing orders.
Jeremy Corbyn then addressed the assembly, arriving direct from the unity rally called by Stand Up to Racism in east London.
Corbyn applauded the efforts of anti-fascist forces in both Whitechapel and Hyde Park, who had assembled there to oppose the fascist Nick Tenconi. He called out the Labour government for creating a “horrible, horrible atmosphere towards asylum seekers and refugees”.
To finish off the day, people debated the party’s founding political statement and strategy for its first year.
There were clear calls for an insurgent vision of the new party—one which would be unflinching in the fights against racism and transphobia and for Palestine. Above all, there was a clear call to put forward the biggest and best challenge to Labour in the 2026 council elections, one rooted in local struggles.
Pat Meusel
Hundreds joined the all Wales gathering of Your Party in Merthyr, last Saturday. We discussed the way forward in building this much needed left wing party to fight on all fronts.
Contributions from the floor spoke about the urgency of our task as we face Senedd elections next May.
There are still many constituencies without a left wing candidate. The meeting decided that it would make interim decisions to enable Your Party activity to begin in Wales.
The chair of the meeting took contributions from the floor about amending the draft documents which had been circulated to members the previous week.
People argued we needed to make clearer statements of support for oppressed groups instead of vague references to being “anti-discrimination”.
Heather Falconer
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