Labour could be facing a significant legal bill due to an ongoing internal feud that began during the tenure of former party leader Jeremy Corbyn. Labour has accused two of Corbyn’s ex-advisers, Karie Murphy and Seumas Milne, as well as three other former staffers, of leaking a controversial document just after Sir Keir Starmer became leader in April 2020. The legal pursuit has so far cost the party almost £1.4m.
Labour has submitted documents to the High Court showing that its legal team estimates a further £868,000 could be spent on the case, which has yet to come to full trial. Legal documents show that the party is requesting that the hearing be scheduled for at least February 2025 – after the last possible date for a general election – arguing that its small legal team would find it challenging to prepare for the hearing while fulfilling other responsibilities during an election period.
Statements from two of the five people against whom Labour is taking action, delivered to the court through their lawyers, argue that a delay until 2025 would be detrimental. Georgie Robertson, one of the former staffers, said she felt like her life had been put on hold and she believed she would struggle to find work until her name was cleared. Meanwhile, Harry Hayball, another former employee, complained that the proceedings were causing him extreme stress.
The former staff members have been blamed by Labour for the leak of a controversial internal party document. The document, which included private emails and messages, contained a number of allegations including that anti-Corbyn head office staff had undermined the 2017 election campaign, and that efforts to tackle antisemitism had been hindered by some of those staff who were opposed to the then leadership. However, data protection was breached when the document also showed unredacted emails and messages from party staff critical of the Corbyn leadership.
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