Corbyn and Sultana hit by fresh divisions over trans rights

But his comments met with backlash from a number of high-profile pro-trans campaigners.

Broadcaster India Willoughby, who is transgender, hit back at the Blackburn MP, saying: “How do you feel about separate toilets for Muslims? A lot of people [are] very worried at the moment.”

Willoughby went on to accuse Hussain of hypocrisy: “Opposes discrimination against himself - preaches it against others. Spoiler alert – Women who are trans are women. Very telling how quiet Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana are on this.”

However, a few hours after his original post on Friday afternoon, Sultana appeared to express a different opinion to Hussain.

“I’ve always stood with the trans community, and I always will. The same forces targeting migrants and Muslims are attacking LGBTQ+ people, especially trans people. Our safety is in solidarity. None of us are free until all of us are free. That’s the new party we’re building. Bigotry has no place in it”, she said on X.

The discussion continued over the next few days and, on Sunday, Hussain denied claims by Willoughby that he’d expressed anti-trans “hate”.

“Agreeing with women on their need for spaces exclusive to them is not an expression of hatred to any other community. I stated the need for safe spaces for trans people, that's not hatred”, he added.

He would also urge his comrades to: “Unite around similarities [and] stop pulling apart over differences.”

The MP, who was elected on a pro-Gaza platform at the last general election, added: “Identity politics do nothing but tear apart and cause division.”

The apparent difference of opinion isn’t the first recent division in the new political party announced by Corbyn and Sultana earlier this summer.

Last week, the JC reported that Sultana had criticised Corbyn in an interview and accused him of “capitulating” after the Labour Party adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism while he was leader and declared proudly that she was an “anti-Zionist”.

In a subsequent interview, Corbyn appeared to hit back at Sultana: "I think it wasn't really necessary for her to bring all that up in the interview, but that's what she decided to do.”

Hussain had himself intervened to defend the former Labour leader as he was being criticised by pro-Palestine activists, including vehement Israel-critic professor David Miller, for refusing to declare himself an anti-Zionist.

“Stop this witch-hunt against a man who has literally dedicated his life to the Palestinian cause, and continues to do so. Just stop!” he said in response to Miller.