Jeremy Corbyn's hard-left Your Party plunged into chaos as Zarah Sultana calls in lawyers over 'baseless attacks'

The Coventry South MP had already implied that Mr Corbyn was overseeing a "sexist boys' club" after the row first erupted on Thursday.

“Over the last 24 hours, a number of false and defamatory statements have been published about me concerning the launch of Your Party’s membership portal,” she said.

“The portal was properly launched in accordance with the party’s roadmap. At no point was members’ data misused or put at risk.

“All funds received from members were ring-fenced and protected in the appropriate manner.”

She added: “These baseless attacks on my character are politically-motivated and I intend to hold to account those responsible for making them.

“To that end, I have this evening instructed specialist defamation lawyers.

"To avoid prejudicing or complicating any future legal process, I will not be making any further comment about this matter at this time.”

However, Mr Corbyn is also seeking legal advice after an "unauthorised email" was sent to Your Party supporters inviting them to become paid-up members at the cost of £5 a month or £55 a year.

Pro-Gaza MPs Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, Iqbal Mohammed and Shockat Adam also signed Mr Corbyn's letter warning supporters against signing up, with Ms Sultana being notably absent from the statement.

Ms Sultana, who named a number of Mr Corbyn's loyal allies in her initial letter, was already at loggerheads with Mr Hussain over trans rights.

She was also accused of catching Mr Corbyn off guard when she announced the creation of Your Party before the former Labour leader appeared ready to commit to the project.

In another apparent swipe at Mr Corbyn, Ms Sultana also accused the former Labour leader of "capitulating" on antisemitism.

Meanwhile, a group of hard-left Your Party activists have now been urging the six MPs to relinquish all control to its 750,000 supporters.

The group, known as Our Party, said: “800,000 people had faith that something could be different.

“If these six MPs want to be worthy of that faith, it’s time to hand over the reins of this founding process to the party’s supporters.

"This isn’t just about you. It’s about all of us.”

Supporting the pressure group's push, Ms Sultana said: "This is what I’ve been fighting for from the start."

Meanwhile, Mr Corbyn broke his silence on the spat by declaring that he was “appalled” by the abuse directed to one of his advisers.

He declared: “She has had an awful lot of stick and criticism this week. I just want to say this.

"I’ve known Karie Murphy for many, many years and I’m appalled when people attack an individual like her.”

Mr Corbyn, who was stripped of the Labour whip over his response to an investigation into antisemitism, added: “She’d walk on burning coals for a cause that she believes in and I want to say thank you, Karie.”

New Green Party leader Zack Polanski appears to have received a boost from the spat engulfing Your Party.

Mr Polanski said that the Green Party's membership in England and Wales has now exceeded 77,000, taking it narrowly behind the Liberal Democrats.

Matt Zarb-Cousin, who once worked as an aide to Mr Corbyn, is among those to have kept faith in the Greens.

"We haven’t got time for faffing around," Mr Zarb-Cousin said.

In a plea to the Your Party co-leaders, Mr Polanksi added: “My door is always open for conversations with Jeremy and Zarah, two people committed to making our country fairer who I really respect."