JEREMY Corbyn is seeking legal advice after an "unauthorised" email was sent to Your Party supporters by Zarah Sultana, encouraging them to sign up to become members.
Around 20,000 people are said to have signed up, paying either £55 per year or £5 per month.
Sultana had published social media posts urging members to sign up, stating: "We’ve hit 20,000 members! Right-wing bad faith actors are desperate to claim this link is fake. It isn’t. It’s safe and secure!"
In a letter – not signed by Sultana who was setting up the new left-wing party alongside Corbyn – said all direct debits set up should be "immediately cancelled".
"This morning, an unauthorised email was sent to all yourparty.uk supporters with details of a supposed membership portal hosted in a new domain name," the letter published by Corbyn states.
"Legal advice is being taken. That email should be ignored by all supporters. If any direct debits have been set up, they should be immediately cancelled."
The letter published by Corbyn goes on to state an agreed process was announced on August 1 by the Independent Alliance Group of MPs – Corbyn, Sultana, Iqbal Mohamed, Adnan Hussain, Shockat Adam and Ayoub Khan – which stated the group "are stewarding and accountable for the foundation process for the new party".
"Earlier this week, we shared new details about the road map to the launch, including our plans for mass regional assemblies and our founding conference.
"Soon, you will be able to turn your support into membership at yourparty.uk, and shape the future of our party and our country."
The letter was signed by Corbyn, Khan, Hussain, Mohamed, and Adam.
In a response, Sultana said she was inviting Corbyn to meet and "agree to make public all agreed structures, processes and decision-making protocols" while branding the group "a sexist boys' club".
She said: "After being sidelined by the MPs named in today's statement and effectively frozen out of the official accounts, I took the step of launching a membership portal so that supporters could continue to engage and organise."
Sultana went on to double-down and urge people to sign up: "This was in line with the roadmap set out to members on Monday and is a safe, secure, legitimate portal for the party. Everyone who supports us should sign up now."
The website is still live.
Read Zarah Sultana's full statement after 20,000 people sign up to Your Party
I want to clarify the situation regarding the membership system for Your Party.
Neither of this week's emails had the dual authorisation of both myself and Jeremy - which was the agreement made at the start of this process.
After being sidelined by the MPs named in today's statement and effectively frozen out of the official accounts, I took the step of launching a membership portal so that supporters could continue to engage and organise. This was in line with the roadmap set out to members on Monday and is a safe, secure, legitimate portal for the party. Everyone who supports us should sign up now.
My sole motivation has been to safeguard the grassroots involvement that is essential to building this party.
Unfortunately, I have been subjected to what can only be described as a sexist boys' club: I have been treated appallingly and excluded completely. They have refused to allow any other women with voting rights on the Working Group, blocking the gender-balanced committee that both Jeremy and I signed up to.
It is also important to be transparent about why this situation has arisen. I do not believe members will accept Karie Murphy and her associates having sole financial control of members' money and sole constitutional control over our conference. This undermines the democratic principles we agreed to uphold.
From the outset, we agreed that MOU Operations Ltd - stewarded by Jamie Driscroll, Beth Winter and Andrew Feinstein - would hold and manage funds on behalf of members until the founding conference, at which point they would be transferred to a new entity established democratically. Every penny raised so far has gone to MOU Operations, and this continues to be the case within our new membership portal. This, to be clear, is members' money - and our members must decide how it is spent.
This arrangement was designed to ensure transparency, accountability and protection against the concentration of financial control in the hands of any one person.
I regret that today's statement has misrepresented the situation. My actions have been consistent with our shared commitment: to build an open, democratic and member-led organisation. I will continue to fight for a process where members' money, data and voices are safeguarded, not centralised under the control of one individual.
I am calling on Jeremy to meet with me and agree to make public all agreed structures, processes and decision-making protocols. Doing this will restore hope for our members, and ensure nothing like this can ever happen again. This party is more important than any one person, and we all owe it to the movement to deliver a truly democratic and socialist party.
The democratic founding conference of this party will take place in late November.
I will keep fighting for a minimum programme for maximum democracy, you have my word.
No stitch-ups, no coronations: the members must decide.
