Corbyn accused of ‘vindictive’ behaviour after rebel MPs’ aides ‘locked out of Parliament’

Embattled Labour leadership accused of ‘bully-boy tactics’

Jeremy Corbyn says he 'wants to heal the rifts' in the Labour Party (Getty)

The Labour leadership has been accused of “petty” and “vindictive” behaviour after advisers working for MPs who resigned from the shadow cabinet were reportedly denied entry to the House of Commons.

An email sent to the House of Commons sergeant-at-arms, who is responsible for security, listed a number of advisers who had lost their roles after the MPs they worked for resigned from Jeremy Corbyn’s front bench.

The email was allegedly sent on behalf of Karie Murphy, who works in Mr Corbyn’s office, and has angered some former cabinet ministers after the Labour leader publicly said he was attempting to “heal the rifts” in the party.

Despite the MPs stepping down, many aides are still being employed by them.

According to the Guardian, one aide said: “I had my pass taken away. Another person went to the gym at lunch time and couldn’t get out... One member doesn’t have the right to revoke the pass of another member’s staff.”

Chris Bryant, the former Shadow Leader of the House of Commons, told the paper the move was petty, “vindictive, gratuitous nastiness”.

“It is the kind of thing you’d expect from a ludicrous authoritarian City bank," he said.

"It completely misunderstands that MPs do actually have a job to do and is classic bully-boy tactics – not to have the courtesy to tell people when we’ve suspended their right to go into the office.”

The row comes as former Shadow Business Secretary Angela Eagle announced she will launch a formal leadership bid to oust Mr Corbyn next week.

Owen Smith, the former Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, is also considering a leadership bid, though it remains unclear whether he will go ahead following Ms Eagle’s announcement.