Labour's confusion over its own leadership contest

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Here is Harriet Harman reported by BBC News today:

Harriet Harman has said 3,000 alleged "cheats" have so far been excluded from voting in the Labour leadership contest, with more expected. 

The acting Labour leader said: "It is not funny or clever for people from other parties to try to cheat their way into our system." 

And only people who supported the "aims and values" of the Labour Party would be allowed to take part.

But she adopted a different tone back in May. A Labour Party press release quoted her as follows:

"The public - not just Labour members - will be able to ask questions of leadership and deputy leadership candidates at hustings events. 

"Hustings will be staged in the towns and suburbs where Labour hoped to win in the general election, but where the party failed to make inroads. 

"Labour members will be encouraged to bring supporters of other parties, or non-voters, to hear speeches by the contenders."

It's seems pluralism's flowering in Labour soil lasted only a short time.

As Nick Tyrone argued recently, Labour's problem is that it never decided whether its £3 supporter rate was meant to turn its leadership contest into a sort of open primary or not.