UK's Corbyn forms parliamentary alliance with four other pro-Gaza MPs

Group says it will oppose austerity and arms sales to Israel

Former UK Labour Jeremy Corbyn has joined a parliamentary alliance with four other pro-Gaza MPs. EPA

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and four other independent pro-Gaza MPs have formed a parliamentary group that aims to stop austerity and halt arms trade with Israel.

The technical group, known as the Independent Alliance, has written a letter to the speaker of the House of Commons, signalling their intention to sit together in Parliament.

The alliance will have same number of MPs as the right-wing populist Reform UK party and the Democratic Unionist Party, in Northern Ireland, but will not operate as a political party.

Instead, the alliance will allow greater opportunity to formally ask questions in parliament and hold the government to account, the group said in a statement.

Mr Corbyn, 75, a representative for Islington in north London, was expelled from the party earlier this year after he announced his intention to stand as an independent MP in the seat he has held since 1983. He had been a party member for almost 60 years.

He had been banned from standing for Labour after he claimed the scale of anti-Semitism in the party was “dramatically overstated”.

Other members of the group are Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed. All four were elected to Parliament in the recent general election and ran on a pro-Palestinian platform in areas with large Muslim populations.

The politicians have been working together for months and joined forces to oppose a two-child benefit cap, alongside Green, SNP and seven dissenting Labour MPs.

In a joint letter to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, they also criticised Prime Minister Keir Starmer for not going “nearly far enough in identifying the anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim hatred” behind the riots on Britain’s streets.

The group has called on other politicians to join the alliance, with speculation that other suspended Labour MPs – including former shadow chancellor John McDonnell – could join forces in the near future.

“Already, this government has scrapped the winter fuel allowance for around 10 million pensioners, voted to keep the two-child benefits cap, and ignored calls to end arms sales to Israel.

“Millions of people are crying out for a real alternative to austerity”.

“The more MPs who are prepared to stand up for these principles, the better. Our door is always open to other MPs who believe in a more equal and peaceful world.”

Mr Corbyn is a long-time critic of Israel and has demanded the UK stop sending arms to Israel. He was re-elected to chants of “Free Palestine” as he won his seat by a large majority in the 2024 general election.

The creation of the alliance has already attracted criticism from politicians, including Kemi Badenoch as she launched her bid to become leader of the Conservative Party.

“When everyone was talking about the five new MPs from Reform, I was far, far more worried about the five new MPs elected on the back of sectarian Islamist politics, alien ideas that have no place here,” she said.

On Monday evening, UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced an arms embargo on 30 weapons export licences to Israel, as these that might have been used to commit “serious violations” of international humanitarian law.

The government said it would publish in full precisely what has been banned. Currently, about 350 licences are issued to UK defence companies to export to Israel.