Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership campaign team has reiterated its concern after the party launched an investigation into alleged misuse of data, with one of his key supporters calling the claims “scurrilous” and baseless.

A number of Labour MPs have expressed concern that the inquiry, which was leaked to the media, is an attempt by officials loyal to Jeremy Corbyn’s wing of the party to scupper the frontrunner’s leadership campaign to the benefit of Rebecca Long-Bailey, Starmer’s main rival.

Labour officials told two members of Starmer’s team last week that the Information Commissioner’s Office had been alerted about claims that staffers had “data-scraped” – effectively hacked – information from the party membership system.

The Starmer campaign team, which has called the claims “utter, utter nonsense”, says the inquiry began only after it alerted Labour to a potential data breach included in an email sent by Long-Bailey’s team to her supporters.

Jenny Chapman, the former Darlington MP who chairs the Starmer campaign, said Labour members would have “their heads in their hands” over the row, and called on Jennie Formby, the party general secretary, to formally retract what she said were allegations of criminal acts.

“They need to withdraw the allegation, because it is so serious and it’s affecting those two individuals, who have been named publicly,” Chapman told BBC2’s Daily Politics. Read more

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