THE Communist Party rejected a motion calling for it to campaign for joint membership arrangements with the new “Your Party” being founded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana at the weekend.

Delegate Ron Brown of Newcastle branch moved the motion, arguing that the party should be open to a new mass party of the left and stressing the urgency of uniting all forces prepared to take on Reform UK.

He also denounced the relentless attacks in the media on Ms Sultana, saying: “Yes, she says things we might disagree with. But this is a young working-class Muslim woman who represents everything the far right hates.”

But congress accepted the recommendation of the outgoing executive to oppose the motion on the grounds that it was too soon to tell what kind of party Your Party would turn out to be, noting it had been plagued by infighting from the beginning and, as it stood, did not allow joint membership with other political parties.

The Communist Party sought affiliation to Labour as the mass party of the organised working class in its early years, but this was always rejected by the larger party.

“Let’s not put this particular cart before this particular horse,” cautioned Lorraine Douglas of Eastern district. “Give the incoming executive the flexibility to deal with the situation on the ground as it develops.”

General secretary Rob Griffiths noted the positive potential both of Your Party and the current shift left by the Greens but also warned of their weaknesses.

“One star does not a constellation make,” he said of Green leader Zack Polanski, while criticising the Greens’ refusal to support women’s sex-based rights, their policy of rejoining the ever more right-wing and authoritarian European Union and their decision to end their longstanding opposition to membership of the US-led Nato war alliance.

Question marks hung over the same issues when it came to Your Party, he pointed out, which was also threatened by “the disruptive activity of sectarian groups and factions,” but this did not rule out support for initiatives by the new organisation, joint work on campaigns or potential backing for its candidates at elections.

In many areas, communists would need to get behind left unity candidates best poised to defeat Reform, but the reality was that these would very seldom now be Labour Party candidates, congress heard.