Both Starmer and Long-Bailey camps say party HQ is responsible for leaving member database open.

Labour’s general secretary Jennie Formby is facing a showdown with MPs who want to know why party members’ data was left open to possible security breaches during the leadership election.

Backbench MPs plan to meet Formby this Wednesday after HuffPost UK revealed that activists had full access to the party’s membership of more than half a million people – despite strict rules put in place for the leadership election.

Some allies of Starmer have accused party HQ staff of trying to “stitch up” the election to stop him from winning, following a decision to refer his campaign staff to an information watchdog for possible investigation over data breaches.

The leadership frontrunner’s campaign insists his staff have done nothing wrong and that the party should be focusing on the way Long-Bailey’s team shared links to Labour’s ‘Dialogue’ phone-banking system that gave access to the membership.

Activists were were allowed to ring individual party members at home during the general election as part of a bid to mobilise the party’s grassroots to take on the Tories across the country.

However, it appears that the party failed to switch off that access once the election was over. The party has still not explained why that failure occurred or who authorised it.

Under the online ‘Dialogue’ phone-bank system, activists can ring other party members – without seeing their individual phone numbers – in any part of the country.

The Long-Bailey campaign is also insisting that it is the responsibility of the Labour Party HQ to restrict access to members is in line with its own rules and procedures in the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn.

A spokesperson for the shadow business secretary’s campaign said that the probe into Starmer’s campaign over an alleged data breach “should not be allowed to distract from a moment of significant importance in determining the future direction of our party”.

They angrily denied claims that Long-Bailey’s campaign had leaked to the media the news that Starmer’s officials were formally referred to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

The whole issue surfaced at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) on Monday night, when chairman John Cryer revealed he had received several representations from backbenchers furious at the way the party HQ had handled recent events.

Former minister John Spellar also pointed out that Formby had repeatedly failed to turn up to PLP meetings, or to send a senior official in her place, to discuss concerns including the role of community organisers and how MPs could interact with local members in the leadership contest. Read more

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