𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Jeremy Corbyn insisted his new left-wing movement was united today [November 29], despite refusing to call co-founder Zarah Sultana a “friend” in a national TV interview. Opening the party’s founding conference in Liverpool, he told attendees that the group had assembled “because division and disunity will not serve the interests of the people that we want to represent”.

His call for unity came the morning after four hecklers were thrown out of a rally, with activists outside branding Mr Corbyn as ‘right-wing’ and accusing him of betraying Ms Sultana. The Express attended the event, billed as ‘An Evening of Culture & Politics’ in central Liverpool, which quickly descended into a shouting match as black-clad security guards hauled out hecklers.

Some in the crowd yelled “let them stay”, while others were heard muttering: “There’s always nutters.”

The rally opened with a musician leading the room in a full-throated rendition of I’m a Union Man, before Unite’s former general secretary Len McCluskey took to the stage alongside Mr Corbyn.

From the stage, McCluskey attempted to defuse the tension by jokingly shouting: “Saboteurs! MI5!” The quip drew nervous laughter from supporters, but failed to mask the apparent factional warfare erupting both inside and outside the venue.

Four people attempted to disrupt the event, each accusing Mr Corbyn of not being “anti-Zionist”, with one person heard shouting, “Why am I being ejected?” as he was manhandled out of the room.

Even before the doors opened, the fractures were visible outside. In the queue, activists from the Revolutionary Communist Group handed out leaflets attacking Mr Corbyn for not being “anti-Zionist” enough. Other attendees accused him of “pushing Zarah Sultana out of the party”.

One member told the Express the movement was “fundamentally split”, insisting: “This isn’t a childish dispute, it’s existential.” Another went further, branding Mr Corbyn as now being “on the right”.

The extraordinary claims come amid growing signs of open warfare between the party’s two founders.

In his opening speech, Mr Corbyn warned of rising inequality and bemoaned the “voracious appetite of mining, fossil fuel companies and so much else, to destroy the natural world.”

He accused the Government of being “complicit” in “genocide” in Gaza. Mr Corbyn has raised the issue repeatedly in Parliament, alongside members of the Independent Alliance of MPs, and called for arms sales to Israel to be halted.

The conference kicked off on Saturday with attendees selected through a randomised lottery system dubbed “sortition” to decide who could enter.

Members will vote on the party’s name, founding documents and platform. Potential names include Your Party, Our Party, For the Many, and Popular Alliance.

Stands outside the conference hall featured a range of left-wing groups calling for delegates to vote on more democratic methods of electing party leadership and selecting candidates.

One flashpoint was the expulsion of leaders from the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), who were present on a stand outside but barred from entering the main hall.

Lewis Nielsen, the National Secretary of the SWP, was denied access and said in a statement the decision “has been made by an elected clique with no democratic mandate”.