“These developments are a blow for everyone who has put their hope in a real alternative.”
Your Party has released a new statement following the chaotic events within the party today (September 18). In the statement, the party said the membership scheme launched by Zarah Sultana was “false”, and that the “unauthorised” email being sent to subscribers with the link to this scheme had been sent to the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The statement from Your Party is the latest in a back and forth series of messages posted on social media throughout the day. After an email was sent to the Your Party mailing list linking to a membership portal which was subsequently shared by Zarah Sultana on social media, the five other members of the Independent Alliance Group of MPs issued a response saying that this email was ‘unauthorised’ and called for people to cancel any direct debits they had set up.
Sultana then went on to say that she had been sidelined by these MPs, and claimed she had been subjected “to what can only be described as a sexist boys’ club”, said that she launched the membership portal “so supporters could continue to engage and organise”, and claimed that “this was as in line with the roadmap set out to members on Monday”.
The new statement from Your Party says: “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 cooperate 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 3 July, 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.”
In Sultana’s statement, she specifically mentioned Karie Murphy – a key ally of Jeremy Corbyn who was executive director of the leader of the opposition’s office when Corbyn was Labour leader. Sultana said: “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.”
Responding to this, the statement from Your Party said: “As to allegations made against a named individual, Karie Murphy is a trusted and dedicated volunteer. She has never had access to or control of any funds, which are held exclusively for the party. Neither have the other five Independent Alliance MPs had access to, or control over, any funds at any stage.”
The latest Your Party statement did not have any names attached to it. It instead simply said that it was a ‘statement from yourparty.uk’.
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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