LABOUR FACING ‘CATASTROPHIC SPLIT’

Moderates set to follow Frank Field and quit the party over anti-Semitism

LABOUR was facing a ‘ catastrophic split’ last night after veteran MP Frank Field quit over Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to tackle the anti-Semitism crisis.

The former minister, who has represented Birkenhead for almost 40 years, accused the Labour leader of transforming the party into a ‘force for antiSemitism in British politics’ and failing to stamp out a culture of bullying by the hard-Left.

Moderate MPs last night warned that more resignations would follow unless Mr Corbyn gets a grip on the crisis.

In a parting blast, Mr Field, 76, pointed the finger squarely at the Labour leader, accusing him of a ‘series of attempts to deny that past statements and actions by him were anti-Semitic’.

He added: ‘Britain fought the Second World War to banish these views from our politics, but that superhuman effort and success is now under huge and sustained internal attack.

‘It saddens me to say that we are increasingly seen as a racist party. This issue alone compels me to resign the whip.’

Mr Field also condemned Mr Corbyn’s failure to tackle ‘appalling levels of bullying’ in the party and ‘intimidation’ of lifelong Labour supporters.

Mr Field is one of several Labour MPs targeted for deselection by the pro-Corbyn group Momentum after he sided with the Government in a crunch Commons vote on Brexit.

Last month he lost a vote of no confidence among local activists over the issue.

The veteran MP did not mention the issue directly in his resignation letter but referred to the ‘thuggish behaviour’ of some constituency activists.

Sources in Labour’s leadership last night tried to play down Mr Field’s resignation, claiming he had been ‘looking for an excuse to resign for some time’.

A Labour spokesman said Mr Corbyn ‘thanks Frank Field for his service to the Labour Party’.

But privately, Labour’s high command is increasingly nervous about the prospect of a split, following a summer in which tensions over anti-Semitism and Brexit have boiled over.

Fellow moderate John Woodcock resigned from the party last month, while another MP, Mike Gapes, has told colleagues his departure is only a matter of time. Several prominent Jewish MPs, including Margaret Hodge and Luciana Berger, have also indicated they cannot tolerate Mr Corbyn’s failure to deal with the anti-Semitism of some of his supporters for much longer.

Labour MP Wes Streeting last night warned that Mr Field ‘will not be the last MP to leave’ Labour unless the party got its house in order.

Mr Streeting insisted he would not quit Labour himself. But in a warning to Mr Corbyn, he said: ‘The Labour leadership need to move pretty fast to avoid a catastrophic split of the kind we saw in the 1980s. We have got to tackle the problems around antiSemitism and this toxic political culture in our party.’

Labour’s deputy leader Tom Watson described Mr Field’s departure as a ‘serious loss’, adding: ‘It reflects both the deep divisions in the party and the sense of drift engulfing us.

‘It is a major wake-up call. We cannot afford to lose people of such weight and stature.’

But Corbyn loyalist Richard Burgon challenged Mr Field to fight a by-election if he was no longer happy in the party.

The shadow justice secretary said: ‘Politicians who are elected as Labour MPs by their constituents and who then leave the Labour Party should do the right and respectful thing and call a by-election straight away.’

Mr Field said he planned to sit in the Commons as an ‘independent Labour member’ in the hope that reforms would mean he could one day return to the party.

But Labour sources suggested he would be expelled from the party, saying it was not possible to resign the whip at Westminster and remain a Labour member. Mr Field is expected to meet the party’s chief whip Nick Brown today to discuss his future.