Jeremy Corbyn’s new hard-left party has descended into furious infighting over trans rights, just weeks after launching. The row was sparked by co-leader Zarah Sultana, after she appeared on a recording of the ‘Pod Save the UK’ podcast and condemned claims by one of the party’s Muslim independent MPs that trans women are not biological women.
The comments were leapt on by the hard left that Adnan Hussain was not sufficiently socialist on the issue of trans rights. Ms Sultana blasted: “There is no room for socially conservative views in a socialist left-wing party, period.” She was asked: “Adnan Hussein, who’s recently angered a lot of the prospective members of the new party by saying that trans women are not biologically women. How do you manage that as you set this new party up?”
Ms Sultana demanded: “We have to defend the rights, dignity and life of everyone and that means centering the most marginalised. And if people don’t have pro trans, pro migrant, anti-racist values, there are plenty of other political spaces that you can enter – but not this one.”
Mr Adnan, who represents a socially conservative seat with lots of Muslims, subsequently hit back that Ms Sultana is parroting “juvenile student politics”.
In an astonishing public tirade on social media, he added: “People who won on a Labour ticket can threaten to push me out all they like. I took on the Labour Party machinery and won. They probably couldn’t even win a by-election in their constituency with their juvenile student politics.”
He also insisted: “I think if Zarah tried to have the conversation, as Jeremy did, immediately she’d find I’m far from a transphobe or a bigot and believe in equal human rights for all. Granted that does include my belief in the upholding of the Supreme Court decision protecting women’s spaces.
“Holding this view does not at all undermine my belief that trans people should be granted all the tools required to create similar safe spaces, or that existing spaces should be modified to accommodate for the specific needs of both women and trans people.
“One group’s rights should not have to come at the cost of another’s. It’s disappointing that I’ve not been approached about this issue directly.”
Political commentators have warned that Mr Corbyn’s new party will be nearly impossible to hold together, due to a large split between those who believe in full rights for trans people, and its more conservative Muslim base.
Ms Sultana has also lashed out at Mr Corbyn, claiming he “capitulated” over anti-Semitism while serving as Labour leader when agreeing to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
Mr Corbyn subsequently hit back: “I don’t think it was really necessary for her to bring all that up in the interview, but that’s what she decided to do.”