Jeremy Corbyn and the Independence Alliance of MPs have released a scathing statement after receiving just a “small portion” of the supporter funds initially donated.
Your Party’s tumultuous founding shows no sign of easing up. Over the last few days, the latest chaos has surrounded £800,000 of party donations held by party co-founder Zarah Sultana in a company the party’s founders set up earlier this year.
A statement from Corbyn along with Shockat Adam MP, Adnan Hussain MP, Ayoub Khan MP and Iqbal Mohamed MP states that hundreds of thousands of pounds were donated to the party “by supporters in good faith, but have since remained beyond its reach,”
They described this as “extremely frustrating and disheartening,” adding that an “insufficient” portion of the funds was transferred to the party on Thursday.
The statement was not signed by Sultana, who was appearing on Question Time later on Thursday.
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The statement on Thursday said: “Your Party’s founding purpose is to stand for the many against the few who hold the wealth and power in our country. Thousands of ordinary people have given their time and money to build a real alternative to endless cuts and endless war.
“A dedicated team of volunteers has been working on a shoestring budget to deliver a founding conference at the end of the month. Their efforts are heroic, but without funding Your Party’s capacity has been severely restricted. Hundreds of thousands of pounds were donated to the party by supporters in good faith, but have since remained beyond its reach. This has been extremely frustrating and disheartening.
“A small portion of these funds was today transferred to Your Party. This is insufficient. We will continue to pursue the immediate transfer of all the money that was donated by supporters to get a new party off the ground, alongside a resolution to outstanding legal issues.
“Building a democratic party from the ground up was never going to be smooth sailing. Some of the difficulties we have faced were inevitable, but others were deliberate acts.”
The issue of the donations has embroiled Your Party for months following the botched launch of the party’s membership portal.
Hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of donations and fees were received by MOU Operations Ltd, a company set up earlier this year to manage the initial wave of donations after Sultana launched the party’s membership portal.
Sultana subsequently took sole control of MOU Operations after its board resigned en masse and has held onto the donations.
The plan was for the funds to be transferred to Your Party after the party was formally registered with the Electoral Commission on September 30, then wind up MOU.
But this hasn’t happened.
On Monday, she offered to return £600,000, arguing the rest should be retained in case of future legal or administrative expenses.
This offer was rejected by Your Party officials, who accused the former Labour MP of playing “political games.”
A spokesperson for Sultana said: “Zarah is working to transfer all funds and data held by MOU Operations Ltd to Your Party. As sole director, she is legally responsible for ensuring the company’s costs, liabilities and expenses are settled, and this process may take some time.”
They added the first £200,000 was scheduled to be sent on 12 November and all remaining funds would be transferred “once the company’s costs, expenses and liabilities are settled in full,” the Guardian reports.
Your Party’s founding conference is scheduled to take place on November 29 in Liverpool.