SPEAKERS from around the world joined the first Peace and Justice Project (PJP) International Conference in central London on Saturday.

The PJP, founded in 2021 by veteran socialist MP for Islington North Jeremy Corbyn, brought together hundreds of activists to the headquarters of the International Transport Federation, with thousands more joining online.

Among speakers were Belgian Workers Party president Peter Mertens, CND general secretary Kate Hudson, political scientist Navsharan Singh, film-maker Ken Loach, Amazon workers’ union president Chris Smalls, rapper Lowkey and former Unite leader Len McCluskey.

Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, German left MP Sevim Dagdelen and founder of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research Vijay Prashad joined online.

Opening the conference, ITF general secretary Steve Cotton said: “I’m proud that the ITF is able to support this conference because it’s important to bring people together over what’s right.”

Mr Corbyn said: “With the climate crisis, soaring cost of living and war raging in every corner of the globe, it has never been more important for our movement to come together to build an alternative to the misery faced by billions.

“While thousands of innocent people have their entire lives torn apart by the devastation of war, the billionaires and super rich get richer and richer.”

He added that the PJP was founded to bring people together to “debate and participate but most of all for action and this is what this first international conference was all about.”

Regarding the war in Gaza, Mr Corbyn slammed the attack by Hamas on October 7 and condemned the Israeli retaliation that has left nearly 12,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, dead.

He added that he was “disgusted that the British parliament had failed last week to do the moral thing of voting for a ceasefire.”