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DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Well now, the Labour leadership race has taken a new twist following claims from one of the party’s MPs that aides for Jeremy Corbyn and the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell illegally entered her Westminster office.  Seema Malhotra, who resigned from Mr Corbyn’s Shadow Cabinet a month ago, has now made a formal complaint.  Well Rebecca Long-Bailey replaced Ms Malhotra as Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury and she joins me now from Salford, a very good morning to you.  Well what do you make of this?  Illegally entering an MP’s office is totally unacceptable isn’t it?  

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: I’m very upset by what has happened.  I think there has been a clear misunderstanding, we’ve got a very good relationship with Seema, I certainly have and I have got the utmost respect for her and her staff and I understand that the lady who works for our office that access to all of the Treasury team’s offices had thought that she had moved out and went in to check and I think therein lies the misunderstanding and unfortunately it has not been resolved amicably which I think it should have done really.

DM: Oh, so you’ve chatted about it, you think it’s an honest misunderstanding and I suppose it’s administration is it, just moving some of her stuff from one office to another?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: That’s right, on resignation of Seema’s post, the office specifically is on the corridor of the Shadow Leader’s office, it is next to all the Treasury team offices so we were waiting to move Seema out into a new office and me into that office so I could be closer to the Treasury team and as far as the administrative staff were concerned they thought that that had happened and they went to check the office, as I said this lady had access to all the offices because she was the office manager and there were still boxes in there and unfortunately, she walked straight back out of the office again and left and unfortunately I think there has been a bit of miscommunication and misunderstanding on both kind of parts really and I hope that it can be resolved as soon as possible because at the end of the day we’re a team and we all get on with each other generally very well.  

DM: Okay, that’s very interesting and finally on this specific incident, just to be crystal clear then, only parliamentary staff were involved in moving Ms Malhotra’s stuff around then were there?  There were no people from the Labour party involved in this?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: Not as far as I’m aware.  I understand that Seema’s office were moving Seema’s stuff and then my staff were boxing up my stuff and waiting to move the boxes in.  

DM: But on the broader point of the tone of the campaign, we’ve still got this letter haven’t we from 44 female MPs, your colleagues, saying that it really is getting too much and that in particular female MPs and non-white members are being singled out for abuse.  

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: I think that abuse of any kind is abhorrent and I understand that MPs whatever party they’re in and whatever side of the fence they sit on on the leadership, are experiencing terrible abuse and I don’t think that’s acceptable and anybody that is found guilty of carrying out acts like that that is a member of the Labour party should be dealt with quite severely.  

DM: But there is issue, and we hear it all the time of being dealt with quite  severely, we heard it again today from John McDonnell, but where are the expulsions, where are the suspensions?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY: Well they are being dealt with by the National Executive Committee, I think once an issue is flagged up and a member is guilty or alleged to be found guilty of an offence that causes upset or distress to another member of the Labour party, it goes before a panel of the National Executive Committee who go through, examine the details, question the relevant people and decide what actions to take.  Obviously I can’t comment on air about specific cases but I do know that there are a number of cases that are dealt with periodically by the National Executive Committee and where the situation is very serious they are expelled from the party.

DM: Can I just ask you lastly and rather briefly, Rebecca Long-Bailey, what do you make of this extraordinary claim from Len McClusky, or maybe you don’t think it’s extraordinary, that MI5 might be trying to destabilise Jeremy Corbyn?

REBECCA LONG-BAILEY:  Well I can’t comment on that myself, I haven’t had any briefings on that but there are a lot of crazy things happening in politics at the moment and given the last few months nothing would surprise me.  

DM: Okay, well great to talk to you, thank you very much indeed. Rebecca Long-Bailey there in Salford.