Corbyn sorry for 'confusion' as new party membership launched

Jeremy Corbyn has apologised to supporters for the "confusion" around the formation of a new left-wing political party, as he announced the launch of a fresh membership scheme.

In a video posted on social media, the former Labour leader admitted the new venture - currently called Your Party - had faced some "fraught days in the last week" and "we haven't covered ourselves in glory".

Last week a bitter public row broke out with fellow MP Zarah Sultana, after she unilaterally launched a membership portal.

On Sunday, she was "determined to reconcile", adding that she would no longer be pursuing legal action "despite the baseless and unsubstantiated allegations against me".

Sultana had accused Corbyn of overseeing a "sexist boys' club", saying she had been sidelined by him and fellow independent MPs Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohammed and Shockat Adam.

The split emerged after an email was sent to supporters inviting them to sign up as a member for £5 a month or £55 a year.

Sultana had promoted the membership portal on social media but Corbyn later said the emails were "unauthorised" and should be ignored, while any direct debits set up should be "immediately cancelled".

Sultana insisted the launch of the membership portal was "in line with the road map sent out to members", with funds to be held by a company set up by the party to safeguard money until its founding conference.

In his video, Corbyn said: "We've had some fraught days in the last week, as you will no doubt be very aware.

"And to be honest, we haven't covered ourselves in glory. But what is most important is this: we all agree about the plans for the conference and the road map to get to it."

He added: "To all our supporters, I'm sorry for the confusion in getting to this point."

Corbyn said the party would "belong to the grassroots", with members making the key decisions and electing the leadership.

In a statement, Your Party said details of the new membership scheme had been sent to more than 750,000 people who had signed up to get involved, with a membership fee of £5 per month.

The party confirmed its founding conference would take place as planned in November.

It said 13,000 members would be chosen by lottery to take part in the two-day gathering in Liverpool, where they will debate and vote on the party's structure and programme.

Ahead of this, the party is planning a series of regional assemblies across Britain, where members will be able to debate the party's founding constitution and strategy.

The proposals - as well as the party's permanent name - will be put to an online vote among all members.

Despite hundreds of thousands of potential supporters signing up, the party has had a bumpy start since its launch in July.

Corbyn and others involved in the project were taken by surprise when Sultana announced she was leaving Labour and starting a new party with the Islington North MP.

The pair also disagreed over the name of the party, with Sultana insisting in July it would not be called Your Party, only for Corbyn to hint the name could stay.