British-Egyptian billionaire offers to split UK Labour Party

Hull City FC owner says he will give a cash incentive to rebel MPs looking to form a new party.

3 min read

The New Arab

26 Jul, 2016

Assem Allam is the owner of Premier League football club Hull City [Getty]

An Egyptian-born manufacturing magnate has offered to end the UK Labour Party's internal squabbles by calling upon rebel MPs to ditch embattled leader Jeremy Corbyn and form a new party.

Assem Allam, 76, told The Times that he would give a cash incentive to any of the party's MPs who want to break away and set up their own party.

The Hull City Football Club owner and one-time donor of more than £600,000 ($790,000) to the centre-left party has also ruled out providing financial backing to Corbyn's sole challenger, Owen Smith, who according to polls looks set for a devastating defeat in the September leadership election.

This is not the first time that the British-Egyptian billionaire has attempted to use his financial clout to steer the direction of the Labour Party.

Allam made a similar offer after Corbyn's election as leader in September, however said that Labour MPs had advised him to wait at least a year before making a move against the party's leftward shift.

"They said, 'We agree with you, yes he [Corbyn] will never win an election, yes he will never be a strong opposition leader - but we want to leave it for a year,' Allam told The Times.

"Their view was, 'We don't want to rock the boat'... I said, 'You are not doing your party or democracy a favour.' I have been proved right, unfortunately."

Jeremy Corbyn [centre] has been asked by his MPs to step down, including by
Labour's deputy leader Tom Watson [left] and Heidi Alexander [right] [Getty]

The businessman's comments came just after Corbyn and Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell appealed to Labour members to drive the wedge further between the party's right and left by engaging in bitter disputes.

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, McDonnell made a direct appeal to viewers: "There's a small group out there that are willing to destroy our party just to remove Jeremy Corbyn. We’ve got to stop them. We’ve got to unite."

While Corbyn's alleged non-electability has caused some wealthy Labour donors to reassess their support for the party, under the veteran leftwinger Labour has grown closer to the trade unions that it relies heavily upon for both campaigning and financial backing.

Unite, which is Britain's biggest union with over 1.42 million members, has thrown itself firmly behind Corbyn in the leadership election. The heads of 12 unions, including Len Mcluskey of Unite, have also given their backing to the embattled leader.

Recently, the Labour Party was also able to raise an astounding £4.6 million ($6m) through its leadership election, which required many new members to pay a £25 ($33) fee to be eligible to vote.

Around 184,000 people signed up to pay the controversial fee, which was raised from £3 last year. It is believed that the majority of those who signed up are Corbyn supporters who wish to see their leader re-elected.