Five independent MPs, led by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, have banded together to establish the Independent Alliance, which has become the joint-fifth biggest group in the House of Commons. It already outnumbers the Green Party and matches the number of Reform UK MPs. The group is looking to recruit more members after seven of Corbyn’s allies were suspended from the parliamentary Labour Party.
All five members of the alliance have pro-Palestinian stances and beat Labour candidates in July’s election in constituencies with large Muslim populations. The Independent Alliance plans to campaign for scrapping the two-child benefit limit and against arms sales to Israel.
The Independent Alliance includes five of the six independent MPs elected at the 2024 general election, marking the most in modern history. Alongside Corbyn, the group comprises Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Iqbal Mohamed. Alex Easton, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party in the Northern Ireland Assembly who was elected as the independent MP for North Down, is not part of the group.
Under existing rules, established parties of five MPs have been eligible for as much as £129,000 in “short money” – public funds given to opposition parties to support research. Parliament’s rules currently appear to prevent the funds from going to new groups formed between general elections. However, by collaborating with one another, the independents can secure more funds for their campaign work by sharing resources and hosting joint fundraisers. The group also intends to choose debate topics and receive more questions in Parliament.
It is unclear how effective a force the group will be in Parliament, given Labour’s huge majority. Nevertheless, the independents have already informally worked together for months on issues such as calling for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped, alongside Green and SNP MPs. Furthermore, the Independent Alliance has reached out to the seven former allies of Corbyn, including the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, who were suspended from the parliamentary party for six months after voting to abolish the cap. However, there has been no formal coordination between independent MPs and suspended Labour MPs.
In a joint statement, the Independent Alliance said that the government had “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”. They added that “millions of people are crying out for a real alternative to austerity, inequality and war – and their voices deserve to be heard”. The Independent Alliance believes that as a collective group, it can represent the concerns of people more effectively, inviting other MPs who believe in a more equal and peaceful world to join them
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