The Conservatives have been accused of a "cover-up" after the party wrote to the information watchdog demanding an investigation into Reform UK's "Doge" efficiency unit.
Nigel Farage's party has requested swathes of information from the "wasteful" councils it now controls across England, prompting Shadow Housing Secretary Kevin Hollinrake to warn that Reform could spark a "cyber-security disaster".
The Tories also questioned who would be handling this data on behalf of Reform UK, which has said it will use a "unit of software engineers, data analysts and forensic auditors" to examine council waste.
"There is a strong public interest in the Information Commissioner (ICO) taking proactive steps to investigate and, if necessary, issue enforcement notices against the public authorities and Reform UK Ltd," Hollinrake blasted.
Hollinrake warned Reform could spark a 'cyber-security disaster'
PA"I also suspect that council staff would welcome the support of the Information Commissioner, given the clear threats to sack them if they sound the alarm on breaches of the law."
But Doge chief Zia Yusuf hit back, saying: "Wow. The failed Tory party, fighting for its existence, has written to the ICO to try to block Reform's Doge.
"They are desperate to cover up the corruption and waste of their now deposed local Government regimes. It will not work. Just as they plundered hundreds of millions from the British taxpayers during Covid, they have done the same at councils.
"Reform councillors were voted in to expose it, and with the help of Reform's Doge team, they will do just that."
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Kent County Council, which is now under Reform's control, has become the first local authority where the party is orchestrating its Doge plans.
The party said its team of analysts was "bound by data protection obligations and professional standards".
In a letter signed by leader Nigel Faragae and Yusuf, it stated: "Should you resist this request, we are ready to pass a council motion to compel the same and will consider any obstruction to be gross misconduct. We trust this will not be required."
The Tories also highlighted one of Reform UK's leaders on the Doge initiative, Arron Banks, for a £120,000 fine his company Eldon Insurance the Leave/EU campaign received from the ICO in 2019 over data breaches.
Yusuf is leading the party's Doge unit
PABanks appealed against the breaches but lost in 2021.
Reform won control of 10 councils in the May elections, taking control of County Durham, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, West Northamptonshire and Doncaster.
The party also won North Northamptonshire, Greater Lincolnshire, and Hull and East Yorkshire, plus it earned minority control of several councils.
The Conservative Party were dealt a staggering blow, losing 676 council seats to its challengers in one fell swoop.
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