“Diplomatic efforts” are under way to settle the row that has erupted between Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana, Sky News has been told.
A source close to the pair said they were mediating behind the scenes to salvage the future of Your Party following a bitter public spat between the co-leaders.
The new left-wing outfit descended into chaos on Thursday when Mr Corbyn told followers to ignore an “unauthorised” email urging them to become paid members and said he was seeking legal advice.
Ms Sultana admitted to launching the membership portal without the former Labour leader’s sign-off but claimed she did so because she had been “sidelined” by a “sexist boys club”.
The former Labour MP had been sharing the portal on social media all morning and claimed 20,000 people had become members by Thursday afternoon.
With membership fees of £5 a week or £55 a year, that means more than £1m could have been raised before the row broke out.
Mr Corbyn told people to cancel their direct debits but Ms Sultana insisted the portal was a “safe and legitimate” way to pay.
The matter has now been referred to the Information Commissioner’s Office, who can issue fines up to £17.5m or 4% of global turnover, or pass fraud and negligence cases to police.
A spokesperson for the ICO told Sky News on Friday: “We can confirm we have received a report and are assessing the information provided.”
Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana. Pic: PA
Timeline of the row
Suspicions were aroused after Ms Sultana started sharing the membership portal on Thursday but Mr Corbyn did not. In one tweet she told followers to ignore “right wing bad faith actors” who are “desperate to claim this link is fake”.
Mr Corbyn then issued a statement claiming the portal was not legitimate.
It 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.”
The statement was signed by four other independent MPs who were part of the founding process of Your Party – Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohamed and Shockat Adam.
However, it was not signed by Ms Sultana, who quit Labour to launch the new left-wing party with Mr Corbyn in July.
In a statement of her own, the Coventry South MP admitted the portal did not have the “dual authorisation” of herself and Mr Corbyn “which was the agreement made at the start of this process”.
However, she added: “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.”
She insisted that this was a “safe, secure, legitimate portal for the party”, adding: “My sole motivation has been to safeguard the grassroots involvement that is essential to building this party.
‘Sexist boys club’
“Unfortunately, I have been subjected to what can only be described as a sexist boys’ club: I have been treated appallingly and excluded completely.”
Later that evening, Your Party said it had reported itself to the ICO, the UK’s data protection watchdog.
It claimed that a “false membership system has been unilaterally launched”, with data collected and payments taken.
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It also denied Ms Sultana’s claims that she had been excluded from discussions, calling the developments a “blow for everyone who has put their hope in a real alternative”
The split was described as “messy” and “embarrassing” by many of those who gave the party their financial backing.
Sam T, who signed up to the monthly membership, told Sky News he was considering cancelling his membership and “might as well go and give £5 to someone on the street”.
‘Get behind the Greens’
The row is the latest bump in the road for a party yet to officially agree on its name, decide policies, select candidates or hold a conference.
Ms Sultana appeared to blindside Mr Corbyn when she announced the venture in early July. There have also been internal rows about the leadership model as well as clashes over different views on trans rights.
Your Party insiders had previously told Sky News they wanted to be ready to fight the local elections next May
The Green Party, headed by new “eco-populist” leader Zac Polanski, is likely to be the biggest beneficiary if that does not happen.
Mr Corbyn’s former spokesperson, Matt Zarb-Cousin, said last night that “everyone on the left should join the Greens, including Jeremy and Zarah”.
“We are on the cusp of a far-right government taking control of Britain. We haven’t got time for faffing around,” he said on X.
NATO says it has responded after Russian military jets “violated” Estonian airspace.
In a statement, the Estonian government said the incident involved three Russian MiG-31 fighter jets that flew near Vaindloo Island, in the Gulf of Finland, for a total of 12 minutes without permission.
A NATO spokesperson said the Russian jets “violated Estonian airspace” and “NATO responded immediately and intercepted the Russian aircraft”.
“This is yet another example of reckless Russian behaviour and NATO’s ability to respond.”
Foreign minister Margus Tsahkna said Russia had already violated Estonian airspace four times this year, “which is unacceptable in itself, but today’s violation, during which three fighter jets entered our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen”.
“Russia’s ever-increasing testing of borders and aggressiveness must be responded to by rapidly strengthening political and economic pressure,” he added.
Estonia is the third NATO country to report an incursion of its airspace by Russia in recent weeks: On Sunday, Romania said a drone breached its airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine.
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Romania scrambles fighter jets
Poland also reported an “unprecedented violation” of its airspace by more than a dozen Russian drones last week. Moscow denied responsibility for the incident.
The UK had previously summoned the Russian ambassador in London in response to the “utterly unacceptable” Romanian and Polish incursions.
The Russian defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, its jets routinely fly over the Baltic Sea, where its Baltic Fleet is based.
While incursions over Vaindloo Island, around 124 miles from Estonia’s capital Tallinn, by Russian aircraft are somewhat common, they do not usually last as long as Friday’s incident.
In response to the latest incident, Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said that the UK “stands with our Estonian allies” after what she called “yet another reckless incursion into NATO airspace”.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said: “We will respond to every provocation with determination while investing in a stronger Eastern flank.”
She added that “as threats escalate, so too will our pressure”, before calling on European leaders to approve a new round of sanctions which would ban Russian liquified natural gas.
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Is Russia getting ‘ready for war with NATO’?
Putin ‘testing the West’s resolve’: EU official
Europe’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas also said the “violation of Estonia’s airspace by Russian military aircraft is an extremely dangerous provocation”.
She added that the EU “stands in full solidarity with Estonia”, and said: “We will continue to support our member states in strengthening their defences with European resources.
“Putin is testing the West’s resolve. We must not show weakness.”
Estonia’s government said in May that Russia had briefly sent a fighter jet into NATO airspace over the Baltic Sea during an attempt to stop a Russian-bound oil tanker thought to be part of a “shadow fleet” defying Western sanctions on Moscow.
It added that the Russian deputy ambassador was summoned and given a protest note.
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MI6 chief: ‘No evidence’ Putin wants peace
The incursion comes after the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence service said there is “absolutely no evidence” that Vladimir Putin wants to negotiate peace in Ukraine.
MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore told a news conference on Friday that the Russian president was “stringing us along”.
“He seeks to impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal. But he cannot succeed,” Sir Richard said.
“Bluntly, Putin has bitten off more than he can chew. He thought he was going to win an easy victory. But he – and many others – underestimated the Ukrainians.”
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