Second MP pulls out of Corbyn-backed Your Party

Another MP behind the Jeremy Corbyn-backed Your Party has pulled out of efforts to set up the new outfit.

Iqbal Mohamed said in a statement that he had decided to leave Your Party and continue to serve his Dewsbury and Batley constituency as an Independent MP.

It comes after MP Adnan Hussain said earlier this month he was withdrawing from the party’s “steering process”, citing concerns about factionalism and “veiled prejudice” against Muslims.

They had been among the six MPs that were helping to set up the party, alongside former Labour leader Mr Corbyn, ex-Labour MP Zarah Sultana and independents Shockat Adam and Ayoub Khan.

The move from Mr Mohamed comes just over a week before the new party’s founding conference in Liverpool is due to take place.

He signalled that his decision was over “allegations and smears” made against him, but did not go into detail.

“The many false allegations and smears against me and others, and reported as fact without evidence, have been surprising and disappointing.

“However, I am confident that my colleagues and I have acted professionally, patiently and in good faith throughout.”

He added: “British politics needs a genuine, inclusive force for positive change, and I hope Your Party fulfils that role”.

The party is due to hold its founding conference in Liverpool on November 29 and 30, when it will choose its formal name.

But its foundation has been marred by internal division, with a dispute between Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana resulting in a botched membership launch and threats of legal action.

Earlier this month, the Independent Alliance of MPs – which includes Mr Corbyn, Mr Adam, Mr Khan, Mr Hussain and Mr Mohamed – said Your Party was still attempting to recover money donated by supporters when Ms Sultana promoted a new membership portal that was later disowned as an “unauthorised email”.

Blackburn MP Mr Hussain said earlier this month that he had initially agreed to support the foundation of Your Party because he believed in “building a political home with mass appeal” and “a force capable of challenging the rise of far-right rhetoric”.

But in a statement published on X, he said he had been disillusioned by “persistent infighting, factional competition, and a struggle for power, position and influence rather than a shared commitment to the common good”.

Mr Hussain said he had also been “deeply troubled” by the way “certain figures” within the new party had been treated, particularly Muslim men.

He said: “At times, the rhetoric used has been disturbingly similar to the very political forces the left claims to oppose.

“I witnessed insinuations about capability, dismissive attitudes and language that carried, at the very least, veiled prejudice.”