Keir Starmer campaign chief calls on Labour Party to drop data breach allegations
2 min read
Labour Party officials have been urged to drop allegations that members of Keir Starmer's leadership campaign broke strict data laws.
Jenny Chapman, who is chair of Sir Keir's campaign, said there was "no evidence" to back up their claims against two members of his staff.
A furious row erupted on Sunday when it emerged that the party had reported the pair to the Information Commissioner's Office.
They have been accused of "data scraping", effectively hacking into the party's data base in order to canvas members during the leadership race.
It came after Sir Keir's team raised concerns with Labour that Rebecca Long-Bailey's team had potentially gained access to party members' contact details.
Ms Chapman told the BBC: "These are very, very serious allegations and there is no evidence, there is nothing to substantiate them whatsoever.
"What has also happened is that allegation, somehow, has found its way to (BBC journalist) John Pienaar and has been publicised, including the naming of these two individuals who have been accused of something criminal.
"Now this is utter nonsense. This is something that Labour Party members will be having their heads in their hands over.
"This is not what we want to see and I just think the Labour Party needs to withdraw that allegation because it's so serious and it's affecting those two individuals. There is no evidence to support that allegation because it simply didn't happen."
Labour sources insisted they had a statutory duty to report any potential breach of data laws to the ICO within 72 hours of being notified of it.
A party spokesperson said: "The Labour Party takes its legal responsibilities for data protection – and the security and integrity of its data and systems – extremely seriously.
"We have written to all leadership candidates to remind them of their obligations under the law and to seek assurances that membership data will not be misused."
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Rebecca Long-Bailey’s campaign said: "The investigation into Keir 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 acknowledged that their team had been able to access members' data, but blamed a failure to close the party's Dialogue computer system at the end of the general election campaign for the error.
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