Jeremy Corbyn’s office has been accused of “petty” and “ludicrous” behaviour after advisers working for his former shadow cabinet ministers were suddenly denied entry to the House of Commons.
A string of advisers had their passes blocked on Friday, after the House of Commons sergeant-at-arms was sent an email on behalf of Karie Murphy in Corbyn’s office saying they no longer work for the Labour party.
The incident has angered some former shadow cabinet ministers at a time when Corbyn has said publicly that he is seeking to unify the party and reach out to the dozens of rebel MPs who resigned their front bench roles.
One aide, who still works for a former shadow cabinet minister, said: “I had my pass taken away. Another person went to the gym at lunch time and couldn’t get out ... One member doesn’t have the right to revoke the pass of another member’s staff.”
Chris Bryant, the former shadow leader of the House of Commons, said it was a terrible way to treat staff members, branding it petty and “vindictive, gratuitous nastiness”.
“It is the kind of thing you’d expect from a ludicrous authoritarian City bank,” he said. “It completely misunderstands that MPs do actually have a job to do and is classic bully boy tactics – not to have the courtesy to tell people when we’ve suspended their right to go into the office.”
It is understood the staff members affected were advisers who lost their roles when their bosses resigned from the front bench. They were paid by the Labour party but many are staying on to work for their old bosses who are now backbench MPs.
The email to the House of Commons sergeant-at-arms did not order the cancellation of the passes but merely informed the parliamentary authorities that the list of advisers were no longer employed by the Labour party.
However, a number of MPs are understood to be furious about how their staff were treated and may raise the issue in the House of Commons on Monday. It will do little for party harmony at a time of continuing tensions, which Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, is trying to resolve through talks with Tom Watson, the deputy leader, and Corbyn.
If the standoff is not resolved soon, there may be a leadership challenge against Corbyn by either Angela Eagle, the former shadow business secretary, or Owen Smith, the former shadow work and pensions secretary.
However, Corbyn’s position has been strongly boosted in recent days by a huge surge in the membership of the party of around 130,000, most of whom are thought to have joined to help defend his leadership.
The Labour leader wrote in the Guardian on Friday that while he was willing to “reach out” to sceptical MPs and participate in talks with union leaders to “bridge the gap and work together more effectively”, he had no intention of stepping down. “Those who want to challenge my leadership are free to do so in a democratic contest, in which I will be a candidate,” he said.
