Jeremy Corbyn has threatened Zarah Sultana with legal action over their new left wing party’s paid membership in an extraordinary bust-up.
An email was sent out to supporters of Your Party this morning asking them to pay between £25 and £55 to become members, with Ms Sultana claiming 20,000 people had signed up.
But Islington North MP Mr Corbyn later sent out a statement warning potential backers to ignore the “unauthorised email”.
In a statement signed off by the Independent Alliance Group’s five male MPs, but ignoring Ms Sultana, he said: “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.
“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.”
Ms Sultana, who has been using her social media accounts to encourage people to sign up to the new left wing party, accused her fellow MPs of creating a “sexist boys’ club” and claimed she had been “effectively frozen out”.
She said: “After being sidelined by the MPs named in today’s statement and effectively frozen out of official accounts, I took the step of launching a membership portal so that supporters could continue to engage and organise.”
She added: “My sole motivation has been to safeguard he 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 to the Working Group, blocking the gender-balanced committee that both Jeremy and I signed up to.”
She said that members would decide how the money raised so far will be spent.”
The party has since reported itself to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The Your Party X account said in a statement: “Following this morning’s unauthorised email to yourparty.uk supporters, the data controller has reported the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office. We will co-operate with the Information Commissioner in full.
“A false membership system has been unilaterally launched, data collected and payments taken. Yourparty.uk has responsibilities to our supporters and duties under the law.
“These developments are a blow for everyone who has put their hope in a real alternative.
“Following Zarah Sultana’s unilateral announcement of the launch of a new party on July 3, an agreement was reached for the Independent Alliance MPs to kickstart the founding process and deliver an open, democratic conference to found a new party.
“Zarah signed up to this and was welcomed into the Independent Alliance. She has not been excluded from any discussions – and everyone involved has been committed to a process rooted in inclusivity and mutual respect.”
Former Labour MPs Ms Corbyn and Ms Sultana along with independents Iqbal Mohamed, Adnan Hussain, Shockat Adam and Ayoub Khan announced the formation of Your Party at the end of July and said a founding conference was planned before the end of the year.
There continues to be confusion around the party’s name, with its placeholder Your Party due to be ditched in October after a member-led vote.
Mr Corbyn said on Tuesday that his new political movement will hold a founding conference in November, with delegates chosen by lottery.
Your Party said in an email to supporters that membership applications would open by the end of September.
But it did not give precise dates for the conference, saying only that the meeting would see “thousands” of delegates “chosen by lottery to ensure a fair balance of gender, region and background”.
