One in five Britons would consider voting for a new left-wing party, rising to one in three young people and Labour voters
A new Ipsos in the UK poll reveals that the left-wing political party recently founded by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and MP Zarah Sultana could capture a significant segment of the British electorate, particularly among younger voters and those who supported the Labour and Green parties in the 2024 General Election.
Overall, 20% of British adults say they would be ‘very’ or ‘fairly likely’ to consider voting for a new left-wing party. This figure, however, masks a sharp generational divide. A third (33%) of those aged 16-34 would consider voting for the new party, a figure that drops to 22% among 35-54s and just 9% among those aged 55 and over.
The potential for this new party to disrupt the existing political landscape is most evident in its appeal to voters of other left-leaning parties. One-third (33%) of those who voted Labour in 2024 and 43% of 2024 Green party voters would consider lending their vote to a Corbyn-Sultana-led party.
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Commenting on the findings, Keiran Pedley, Director of UK Politics at Ipsos said:
These figures show that a new left-wing party led by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana has the potential to shake up British politics. A significant number of younger people are at least prepared to consider voting for it and a majority of those aged under 35 say they would consider voting for some kind of alliance between the new party and the Greens. Clear policies around change, the NHS, poverty and wealth taxes could be popular. Time will tell if the new party can turn this hypothetical appeal into real votes on a significant scale.
Labour’s attempt to find successor to Diane Abbott ‘under way’
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/15/diane-abbott-suspension-labour-mp-successor
Exclusive: Contenders teed up for future contest, which MP says seems ‘to pre-empt results of investigation’
Moves to find a successor to Diane Abbott in the parliamentary seat she has represented since 1987 are under way, prompting concern that her fate has been decided before an investigation into her latest suspension has concluded.
Figures on Labour’s national executive committee (NEC) have spoken to potential contenders, teeing them up for a future contest in her constituency of Hackney North and Stoke Newington, and giving them informal advice on how to prepare, according to a party source.
Abbott was suspended from the party in July for repeating that Jewish people do not experience racism in the same way as Black people[*1], a statement that had earned her a previous suspension in April 2023.
Labour said there would be no discussion of potential successor as an investigation was ongoing. The party said there had been no discussions about alternative candidates at any NEC meetings and no proposals put to NEC members about a selection process.
Abbott said: “It does seem to be rather pre-empting the results of the investigation.”
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Article continues at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/aug/15/diane-abbott-suspension-labour-mp-successor
*1 I suggest that it shouldn’t be reduced to “Jewish people do not experience racism in the same way as Black people.” While that is how it’s perceived and dealt with by the Zionist Labour party, it’s more about there being different forms and consequent experiences of racism and not addressing Jewish people specifically.
“Clearly, there must be a difference between racism which is about colour and other types of racism because you can see a Traveller or a Jewish person walking down the street, you don’t know.
“I just think that it’s silly to try and claim that racism which is about skin colour is the same as other types of racism. I don’t know why people would say that.”
‘Outsourcing on our railways is a racket’
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/outsourcing-our-railways-racket
RMT members in Manchester, August 14, 2025RMT demands Labour deliver on its promise to start the ‘biggest wave of insourcing in a generation’
RAIL union RMT held a mass meeting in Manchester today as part of its national campaign to end outsourcing on Britain’s railways.
The meeting heard from RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey, regional organiser Steve Shaw, Salford Labour MP Rebecca Long Bailey and North West TUC secretary Jay McKenna.
In a recent report, the union warned that despite government plans to bring rail franchises in-house and create the new publicly owned body Great British Railways, a “hidden layer” of contractors continues to profit from the exploitation of thousands of workers.
The report warned that such companies make their profits by keeping workers on low-paid, inferior or casual contracts, leaving them struggling to get by.
RMT argues that all rail jobs, from cleaning to catering, engineering to station services, should be brought back in-house to reverse decades of outsourcing that have driven down pay, eroded conditions and undermined safety.
The union is also pressing the Labour government to honour its pledge to deliver the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation.
Mr Dempsey said: “Outsourcing on our railways is a racket.
“Private firms are cashing in while cleaners, security staff and track workers, among others, are left struggling, often on low pay, insecure contracts and unsafe conditions.
“We have overworked cleaners, for example, working while sick, as companies like Churchill hand millions to shareholders.
“It’s totally indefensible and a waste of taxpayers’ money.”
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Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/outsourcing-our-railways-racket
US flew spy flights for UK months before MoD admitted it
https://www.declassifieduk.org/us-flew-spy-flights-for-uk-months-before-mod-admitted-it
A US military contractor hired by Britain to conduct surveillance over Gaza operated above Nuseirat refugee camp the night before an Israeli bombing killed over 30 Palestinians in December 2024.
On the evening of 12 December 2024, Israel bombed the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza without warning. A post office sheltering displaced families was hit; nearby houses were shredded.
More than 30 Palestinians were killed and over 50 wounded. Entire families died, their names posted online within minutes.
Declassified can now reveal that a spy plane owned by a US contractor to whom the RAF is outsourcing its spy flights circled over Nuseirat refugee camp the night before the bombing.
Publicly available flight-tracking data show that in the hours before the blast, and again afterwards, two surveillance aircraft operating from RAF Akrotiri, Britain’s military base on Cyprus, circled close to or over Gaza.
One of these was a RAF Shadow R1 (registration ZZ419) surveillance plane that flew towards Gaza in mid-afternoon before vanishing from public tracking near the territory.
But the other belonged to Straight Flight Nevada Commercial Leasing LLC, a subsidiary of America’s Sierra Nevada Corporation. This was a Beechcraft Super King Air 350 with the registration N60125 and call sign CROOK11.
The presence of this US aircraft alongside RAF spy planes raises uncomfortable questions about whether British intelligence, directly or indirectly, assisted Israel’s targeting of the camp.
Further, the presence of the US contractor over Gaza as early as December 2024 appears to contradict the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) claim that the company was only hired to take over the missions in recent weeks due to strain on RAF’s Shadow R1 fleet.
The MoD insists the flights are “unarmed” and “solely related to hostage rescue”, and denies aiding Israel’s prosecution of the war. But there is no known mechanism to ensure that data shared with the Israeli authorities is not repurposed for attacks in serious violations of international humanitarian law.
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Article continues at https://www.declassifieduk.org/us-flew-spy-flights-for-uk-months-before-mod-admitted-it
