3 months ago
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Jeremy Corbyn has united with four other MPs elected as independents to establish the joint-fifth biggest group in the House of Commons.
Already outnumbering the Green Party and matching the number of Reform UK MPs, the new Independent Alliance has made a pitch to recruit more members after seven of Mr Corbyn's allies were suspended from the parliamentary Labour Party.
All five of the group beat Labour candidates in July's election with their pro-Palestinian stance in constituencies with large Muslim populations.
The Independent Alliance say they will use their new platform 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 - the most in modern history.
Alongside Mr Corbyn the group comprises of Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain and Iqbal Mohamed.
Alex Easton, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in the Northern Ireland Assembly who was elected as independent MP for North Down, is not part of the group.
Established parties of five MPs have previously been eligible for as much as £129,000 in "short money" - public funds given to opposition parties to support research.
However, Parliament's rules currently appear to prevent these funds going to new groups formed between general elections.
But by collaborating the independents can secure more funds for their campaign work by sharing resources and hosting joint fundraisers.
The group also hopes to gain the opportunity to choose debate topics and be allocated more questions in Parliament.
Given Labour's huge majority it is unclear how effective a force the independents will be in Parliament.
But the group have already been working together informally for months, calling for the two-child benefit cap to be scrapped, alongside Green and SNP MPs.
One of their first actions was to reach out to the seven Labour MPs - all former allies of Mr Corbyn including his former shadow chancellor John McDonnell - who were suspended from the parliamentary party for six months after voting in favour of a abolishing the cap.
So far, there has been no formal coordination between independent MPs and suspended Labour MPs, the BBC understands.
In a joint statement the Independent Alliance said: "Already, this government has 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.
"Millions of people are crying out for a real alternative to austerity, inequality and war – and their voices deserve to be heard.
"As individuals we were voted by our constituents to represent their concerns in Parliament on these matters, and more, and we believe that as a collective group we can carry on doing this with greater effect.
"The more MPs who are prepared to stand up for these principles, the better.
“Our door is always open to other MPs who believe in a more equal and peaceful world."
