Zarah Sultana’s Your Party membership launch may be ‘criminal’ matter for police, ICO says | Your Party
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has advised that Zarah Sultana’s unauthorized launch of the Your Party membership portal could constitute “serious criminal activity” and should be reported to the police.
Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace and Justice Project (PJP), which referred your party to the information watchdog over a potential data breach last September, has been advised by the ICO to consider “taking further action” on the issue after deciding it was not a matter for them.
In September, an extraordinary standoff between Corbyn and Sultana began after an email was sent to 800,000 people on Your Party’s email list urging them to sign up by paying £55. Unveiling the new membership portal on
Later the same day, Corbyn posted an “urgent message” to his followers on X telling them to ignore the “unauthorised” site and said “legal advice has been taken”.
Following referral to the ICO, the information watchdog notified Corbyn’s PJP, Your Party’s data controller, that the matter was not a matter for the ICO at this stage. Guidance, first According to the New Statesman reportHe advised PJP to consider going to Action Fraud, now known as the Fraud Report, and have police determine whether the issue constitutes criminal activity.
The advice said any police investigation by the ICO would take precedence at this stage as “serious criminal activity may have occurred”.
A spokesperson for the ICO said: “Having reviewed the information provided, we have assessed that formal ICO participation is not required at this time.”
A source said the ICO’s advice on police “should not be construed as a finding or conclusion in any direction” and that it remained in contact with relevant parties.
On Friday, Sultana released a statement saying the ICO had “dropped the case on your Party’s membership portal.”
Writing on
Sultana said he looked forward to campaigning for “a Central Executive Committee (CEC) that breaks decisively with Labour’s right-wing tactics, empowers members and local branches, and helps build a mass movement for socialism.”
He added: “I will continue to work closely with Jeremy and comrades in the movement to further develop our 60,000 members, the largest socialist party in the UK since the 1940s. Let’s get to work.”
A source close to Sultana said the police “will probably be less interested in this matter than the information commissioner”. “Zarah remains focused on building a successful mass socialist party and will not be distracted by those who want this project to fail,” they said.
Your party declined to comment.
